Lost Identity
by Izzu
Summary: A dark mage returned from the past to kill the pharaoh but failed. Though, something happened and Yugi learns the real truth. SetoXShizuka, YugiXRebecca at the end.
1. Chapter 1: Questions of the past

az: Old story na... doing a bit of a clean-up because a slight nostalgia reminded me of this piece.

Well, this fic had a lot to do with Forbidden Memories game, and the 1st season"s OP and ED songs, and let"s assume that the fight with the shadow realm had passed, okay?

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime. Because in the past people used to flame me on this fic for some unknown reason. Characters and original excerpt from the fic belonged to Kazuki Takahashi.

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Lost Identity

Chapter 1: Questions of the past

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

o

o

Who am I... really?

Is my existence in this lifetime merely an illusion? Or is it not? Does karma really exist in this world?

/_Aibou?/_

I glanced sideways as my other self sat beside me. I adjusted my sitting position on the bench even though I don't really needed to.

"Oh, my other self... What is it?" I asked light-heartedly to him even though I knew what it is that he wanted to know.

_"Is something bothering you? I noticed that you've been spacing out a number of times. And I noticed that you had started to look like me when you spaced out like that", _said my other self as he tried to make me talk.

I shook my head.

"Nothing. It's just; I'm wondering... ah, it's nothing really. You don't have to worry about me," I said, not really hoping that my other self would swallow that explanation. Really, it was still a puzzling thought. How could both of us be part of each other when at the same time, we are different?

He frowned as I sighed halfheartedly.

Please, my other self... I don't want to bother you with my problems when you already had your own to worry about.

I felt his hands wrapped around my shoulders to comfort me. A smiled crept into my face as I welcomed the gesture from my other self. He's started to become so nice, perhaps he had a lot of influence from me, I guess. _But I still don't want to bother you with this, so I hope you can understand..._

_Please, my other self..._

xxx

Masaki Anzu was planning to drop in to Yugi's house that day. And since the day was still bright and pleasant, she decided to take a sidewalk to the park nearby first. And to her surprise, she found a familiar face, sitting alone at the bench overlooking a small lake in front of him. She slowly crept behind her childhood friend and sat beside him on the bench.

"Hi, Yugi! What are you doing here alone?" chirped Anzu but Yugi hadn't noticed her.

Her face changed as a twinge of worry started to creep on her, seeing her friend being so distracted. Anzu shook Yugi's arm gently as she tried to get his attention.

"Yugi, are you okay? Is something bothering you?", she asked again as Yugi snapped from his daydream.

Yugi glanced towards Anzu.

"Eh? Oh! I'm alright. I guess… I had been daydreaming…"

"Are you sure?" she asked as Anzu glanced towards her friend. "And you even started to resemble your other self more. What happened?"

Yugi kept his silence. Annoyed, Anzu sighed in exasperation. "Yugi! Please tell me what's wrong with you!"

Yugi looked up towards her before glancing towards his other self without thinking. He grasped her hand deftly before giving her the darkest stare he had ever given her.

"Well, even if I do tell… it's not something that you could help me with," said Yugi darkly.

Anzu took a short breath as she braced herself to hear Yugi's explanation. "Even then, tell me. We're friends, right?"

Yugi's eyes widened in surprise at her insistence before he sighed.

"All right then, I'll talk."

xxx

Anzu walked home silently after parting with Yugi earlier. Certainly it was weird, as somehow she ended up seeing a side of Yugi that she never saw before. At least, not when he had been himself… and not the other Yugi. She sighed as she thought at her own helplessness over the concerns her friend had just told her.

_"Anzu, do you believe in karma?", said Yugi suddenly, taking her in surprise._

_"Err, not much. Why do you ask?", she replied as Yugi frowned; deep in his own thoughts. _

_"No, I've been wondering... Anzu, how long have we've been friends?" _

_She smiled, despite realizing the question a bit strange._

_"Umm, quite a long time. Why did you ask?" she glanced again at him but stopped as she noticed that Yugi's eyes had that glazed look again. She started opening her mouth to ask again but Yugi cut her off._

_"Ever since my parents had separated, I've always felt so much alone..."_

_"Yugi..?"_

_"And since I had been so short, people had always bullied me. Added with the fact that my family had just been torn apart, things can't be much worse..." _

_Anzu kept very quiet all the while as she let him talk. It was all that she could have done. She frowned as she noticed the sad look he had been wearing. All this time, she had thought that Yugi had been able to accept the reality that his father was no longer by his side. She thought he had already accepted that decision that his parents had made. Guess she was wrong._

_"But it had. Before this, I had never noticed this emptiness inside of me. Emptiness as if your soul was incomplete. The feeling grew strong after that incident. And without myself noticing, I had created a dark illusion of myself that is..."_

_"..so much like the other Yugi...", she said as Yugi sighed._

_Yugi nodded instinctively as he continued. _

_"When He came to exist in my life, I felt as if my soul had been complete again. I never realized this before as I didn't give any thought about this. Knowing that I had you, my other self, Jounouchi, Honda, Miho, Bakura, Kaiba and everyone else by my side as my friends; it made me so very happy that I never question if there was any solid reason why everything started happening to me now." _

_Yugi paused. And she waited patiently for him to continue as he heaved a long sigh. _

_"Hmmph, if he knew what I was thinking right now, Shadi might have told me now that the puzzle had come to me because it had chosen me to be its keeper. But I can't help feeling that it's not just that. That it was not a coincidence that the puzzle came to me and in it contained my other self's soul, who had a lot of similarities with me and was like my other half. I felt as if the puzzle came to me, no Anzu, it searched for me to return itself to me."_

_Anzu's eyes widened in surprise. She never thought Yugi could have thought about this so deep. It was not something she would have thought of as well!_

_"The puzzle returned itself to you?" she asked, feeling as if this was something she did not feel like hearing._

_Yugi neither nodded nor shook his head in respond to her question. _

_"Not so long ago, I had a dream. Actually I don't quite remember when I had it but suddenly after all that had happened; it came back to my mind. In that dream, I was in ancient Egypt.", said Yugi as he laughed suddenly without any feeling. He placed both of his hands to cover his face before swearing silently. _

_"...I can't even remember the dream! But something from that dream remained. I remembered myself running away from something and there's this person chasing after me. And when I almost got myself captured, there's this other person whom I felt so familiar with, telling me to break the puzzle. And that's that."_

_"It made me thinking. That dream... was it a memory of my past life? So, if it is... then, was my other self—a part of my soul? Did breaking the Millennium puzzle caused my soul to split into two? One got sealed inside of the puzzle and the other remained with the body to die? And to be reborn again, three million years later as me? Then, what would become of me... of us? Would my soul be divided like this forever or would it one day be fused together and be one again? If so, what would become of me when it did happen? Of my present memories... and my other self's lost memories? Would I be the same as now or would I be a different person? Oh, man... this is so confusing..."_

_Yugi cavered his hand over his face as Anzu reached out to hold him. He gasped in shock at the unexpected gesture. It even surprised Anzu herself but seeing Yugi like that—it hurt her. She pulled herself away as both of them got up. Yugi swayed a little, probably exhausted with the effort of telling her of his worries. Anzu deftly caught his arm to support him. _

_"Come on, Yugi. I'll help you walk home. You needed to rest." _

_Both of them had walked home to his house in silence before Yugi gave her a last long look…_

"_Thank you..._"

For some reason, that brief exchange shook her deeply.

Such short exchange of gratefulness from him but the word's so sharp, piercing her heart deeply. She admitted. Even though he he resembled his other self more now, but was still the old Yugi. The other Yugi would never gave her that kind of look. Seeing that, it pained her deeply. Knowing that somehow, she most probably would not be able to help him with anything…

xxx

Anzu gasped as a realization struck her. Stopping in her track at the middle of an alley, she placed a hand on her chest.

_Did I... did I fall in love with Yugi?_

She thought in surprise. She found it puzzling to have thought about Yugi like that. She knew that she had liked the other Yugi for a long time but for a long time, she had regarded Yugi like a brother. But as Yugi started to look more like his other self, her feelings for him had started to take a different turn.

_But if what Yugi said before was true... that both of them were in fact the same person, how would I handle it if they finally did become one again?_

Anzu shook her head vigorously as she continued heading towards home. "No! No matter how confusing this is to me, I cannot think of myself now. Yugi needs me by his side now. Whatever happens, I will always support Yugi. Even if it means ignoring my feelings towards the other Yugi..." said Anzu to herself as she entered the gates of her house...

xxx

At Yugi's house...

Yugi sighed as he sat slumped on the sofa. He was tired beyond anything that he had ever felt before. But now, Anzu was not the only person to have learned of his problem. His other self now have found out Yugi looked sideways to where his other self was standing with mixed feelings.

"My other self, are you angry? You've been very quiet ever since Anzu left earlier."

Both of them exchanged glanced as his other self glared at him.

"Why should I? You've been keeping this from me for a long time… why would you start sharing this with me now?"

His other self had snapped as Yugi hastily reached his hand out to him.

"No..! It's not like that! I just... don't want you to ponder about it any more than you should. You had been so depressed when you found that you had no memories of your past, so much that I can't bear it if you had to bear this weight in my mind too...", blurted Yugi as he clutched his forehead before sitting back at the sofa.

The other Yugi started as he caught Yugi before his head slammed the tea table beside the sofa. Yugi stammered his apology for his carelessness but his other self stopped him.

"I don't mean it like that, my partner. I'm sorry..." he stuttered as Yugi tried to explain himself.

His other self placed his hand on his partner as he sat beside him.

"You"re tired, you needed to get some sleep..." he said again.

Yugi shook his head. "No, I'd probably would end up thinking again about the dream."

The darker persona shook his head at his partner as he was determined to make his partner heed his words.

"Just do what I told you. I'll be by your side."

Yugi smiled at his other self. Nodding his head, he allowed himself to rest as his other self watched over him protectively.

xxx

Mutou Sugoroku walked into the living room after collecting the mails and closing the toyshop for the day. And it certainly came to his surprise to find Yugi sleeping on the sofa. The old man slowly crept beside his grandson and covered his body with a blanket.

Seeing that Yugi was still asleep, he gently caressed Yugi's forehead as he started to realize that his grandson had looked a little different than usual. For one, he's taller than usual. Perhaps his grandson had been doing a bit more growing up without him realizing, he mused to himself as he kept caressing Yugi's cheek. He sighed to himself as he started to shuffle through the mails and found one addressed to Yugi. Not wanting to wake his grandson up yet, he placed the letter on the tea table for Yugi to find it.

Grandfather Sugoroku bowed down towards Yugi and gave him a peck on the cheek before heading to the kitchen. The other Yugi watched him go as he kept watch over his other half. Suddenly, he felt relieved that Yugi was surrounded with people who loved him. In other words, people who loved him too, the young nameless pharaoh from ancient Egypt, since both of them were in fact the same person. He smiled as he continued staring at Yugi.

_My partner's right. The moment I found out about this, I would endlessly ponder about it until I go insane. Well, I'll leave it to fate then. Whatever happens after this, I will face it. As long as both of us were together..._

[TBC]

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az: This was something I felt needed to do. But well, I don't think it's going to change much but I think once a while looking back at my old works wouldn't hurt. Though, I'll probably be doing this slowly.


	2. Chapter 2: The Letter

az: Hmm... am I a bit too talkative at the last chapter? Bad me... but if I'm not like that, I won't be here and create silly fics!! Hopefully, I got the ideas needed to finish this fic. This idea kept haunting me for months now.

az: About the timeline... I think I'll put it before the time when Yugi's grandpa found out about Yami... Heck, how can I actually knew when is the timeline... Ch... This is getting pretty stupid an argument... I'll put this story more to the future than the manga... fuh, satisfied.... bought and watched the third season of YGO... hope that helps... =

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime. Read and review and I don't own Yu-gi-oh. The day when I owned them, was when Kaiba became Jounouchi's best friend and Yugi gone crazy because of it. Characters and original excerpt from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

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Chapter 2: The letter

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

Yugi

The passageways were endlessly long and my legs were tired. I couldn't run anymore but I knew that I must. Because if I didn't, it will ultimately cause me my life. How did I knew that, I didn't know...

/Run, dear prince. Run!! I'll stall this kid. Run!!/

_I'm running, I'm running!!_, I cried in frustration. _But what was I'm running from..?, _I cried again hoping for the voice to reply._ And, wait... who's the prince anyway? I'm not a prince... so why did I ran? The voice clearly asked for the prince to save himself, not me... _A million questions popped into my head as I blindly ran. And suddenly a strange-robed man stopped me from going further. I backed away, feeling that I could not trust this person. And my instincts proved right as the man spoke to me in a very aggressive way.

'There's no way for you to run now, prince...', the strange guy spoke to me. _Prince? What prince? What is going on?_

'Prince... there's no other way. You have to challenge him to a duel...!!'

Duel? What $%$ duel I have to make? Suddenly, I heard a strange sound behind my back. I turned as suddenly a large dragon came swooping towards me throwing a large ball of fire...

--

Yugi screamed in shock as his grandfather rushed towards his aid. 'What is it, child? Did something attacked you?', stuttered Yugi's grandpa as he comforted him. Yugi shook his head nervously as he stammered incoherently. 'No.. no, grandpa. I'm okay... really, just a nightmare...', mumbled Yugi though that didn't made his grandfather more convinced. 'I can't believe you... your face was very pale.'

'Me okay, grandpa... I'll just have to wash my face and get back to sleep.', said Yugi as he slowly got up the sofa. His face started to regain some of its color. Sugoroku sighed heavily as he kissed Yugi's forehead affectionately. 'You do that... and Yugi, you had a letter.', said Grandpa as he picked up the envelope from the tea-table. 'You were sleeping when I got back from the shop, so I left it here...'

'Thanks, grandpa... I'll go upstairs now, okay?', chirped Yugi as he climbed the stairs towards his bedroom...

Yugi closed the door to his bedroom slowly as the door made a soft click, and he let himself fall gently on the floor. Yugi sighed as he balled himself tightly at the corner of the room.

'Are you really okay, _aibou?_ Despite what you told grandfather just now, I don't believe that you had simply a nightmare down there.', said Yami as his forehead creased with worry. Yugi looked up towards his partner. 'No.. Yami. I just don't want him to worry. I don't want him to regret that he had ever let me solve the Millennium puzzle.' Yami placed his hand on Yugi's. 'Did you dream about... _that?'_

Yugi nodded half-heartedly as Yami sat beside him. 'This time I dreamt that I was being chased by someone... or something. Why did I have to get that dream... and not you?', said Yugi, almost whispering to Yami. Yami sighed. 'Maybe what you said about us being two halves of a soul had some truth in it...', mused Yami silently. Yugi gave him a strange look. Yami countered by lifting his eyebrow at him. 'Hey, don't ask me.. I'm just guessing. My soul was trapped inside the puzzle for three thousand years and I had no memories of my past. How could I have nightmares about it if I didn't have any memories to cause one..?' Yugi's eyes widen in understanding. 'I supposed you got a point there. But Yami, I had a bad feeling about this. I've been having similar dreams like this for few nights now in a row. I'm worried if this was a sign...'

/Aah... leave it for tomorrow, _aibou._ Why don't you go read the letter you've got? Loads better to think about than that dream.../

Yugi rolled his eyes at his _yami_. 'And risk myself having dark eyes tomorrow at school? No, I'll be reading this tomorrow or I tell Jyou-kun you made me stay up late to read some stupid letter...', said Yugi, grinning. Yami smiled in return as he messed up Yugi's hair. 'That's my cheerful _hikari_...'

Yugi's eyes lighted up. 'You.. sneaky yami. How did you learned to talk like that?'

Yami winked at him cheekily. 'I got a lot of influence from my light..'

--

The next day, Domino High school, Yugi's classroom

It was still early and the class was half-full. But the class was still noisy as Jyounouchi ran around taunting Honda for still not having any girlfriends. Honda steamed up and ended fighting with him. Otogi was at the sidelines cheering for Jyounouchi while sending a mouthful of insults towards Honda. Well, naturally he would be doing that since Honda was his rival in getting Shizuka's affections and certainly no strategy was better than getting to Jyounouchi's good side, eh?

Anzu and Miho watched the boys eagerly; feeling slightly amused at their antics as Yugi eventually arrived, entering the classroom. Anzu called out for him but Yugi hadn't noticed her. Instead, he walked towards Kaiba; who was trying to ignore the voices in front of him and to ignore the fact that he was _REALLY AND _ACTUALLY in the same class as the no-name dueler that he dares not mentioning in his lifetime. (Fuh!! All in one breath!!)

Yugi stopped in front of Kaiba as he waited for him to finish typing whatever it was that he was doing on his laptop. Kaiba stopped typing suddenly, noticing the presence of his arch-rival in front of him and looked up. 'Oi, what do you want? Don't assume that you can just come up to me like I'm your friend only because we had once cooperated in a duel and you having defeated me a number of times! Okay, fess up. What do you want with me?'

Yugi was expressionless. He only kept staring at Kaiba calmly as he blurt out everything that he was thinking about. As he finished, Yugi spoke. 'Kaiba-kun, do you have some free time after school today?'

Kaiba gave him a calculating look. 'So if I had a free time, what do you care?'

'Then, I'll be seeing you after school today. Remember, I'll be waiting...', said Yugi as he turned back towards his own desk. Kaiba just stared at his back as he wondered what is it that had gone through the guy today. _O, you've started ordering me around suddenly... Okay, I'll meet you after this. Let's see what trick you want to show me.. Yugi..._, thought Kaiba as he returned to his laptop. Well, even if he'd decided to continue his studies, he still have to watch over his corporation. So that none of his subordinates tried to double-cross him again like last time with Pegasus.

Anzu walked towards Yugi and took a chair to sit beside him. 'Yugi, are you okay? You did rest like I told you so yesterday, right? So, what's bothering you?', asked Anzu as Yugi looked up at her. Yugi tried to give her a smile but the smile doesn't reach his eyes. 'I'm alright. My other self had made sure that I followed your advice, so nothing to worry about...', said Yugi.

Anzu frowned at him as she noticed that something was amiss. 'Still, I feel that..' Jyounouchi stopped fighting with Honda as he noticed Yugi and Anzu were sitting together. In less than a minute, he popped up between them, causing Anzu to jump away. 'Hey hey... had you two started dating again?', said Jyounouchi as Honda, Otogi and Miho swarmed up around them. Kaiba glanced at them for a short while as he noticed Yugi's looks. He chuckled slightly to himself but grew serious again as he wondered about Yugi's change of attitude.

Anzu's face flushed as she tried to deny it but Yugi did nothing, even though his own face was slightly red. Seeing that no answer came from Yugi, Jounouchi wrapped his arm around him to taunt him. 'Oi.. oi, why didn't you answer? Do you want to keep this by yourself?', said Jyounouchi again not expecting Yugi to do anything unexpected.

But he did. Yugi suddenly pushed him away and stood up. 'Err, gomen. I, um... I think I'm not feeling so well. _Sumimasen_...', stammered Yugi as he ran out towards the door. Without paying any attention, he bumped into Bakura head on and both fell on the floor outside the class. The gang rushed out to see what happened as Bakura helped Yugi up. 'Oh... hello, _pharaoh._ Funny for me to... bump into you, hehe...', jeered Bakura. Yugi frowned as he looked at him. 'Oi, Bakura... this is not the place for you to show up! Turn back to Ryou!!', said Yugi as he scowled at Bakura. Bakura was clearly surprised. 'Hey, what's got into you?'

Yugi immediately changed into Yami. 'I don't want to repeat myself!! Back off!!', said Yami as he walked away. Bakura watched him leave, confusion clearly was written all over his face. Jyounouchi instantly grabbed Bakura by the shirt. 'Hey, what have you done?!'

Bakura shrugged Jyounouchi off his back with ease. 'How would I know!!? If it's the pharaoh, I could understand but _that_ was your friend! Sheesh, I did nothing and the guy shout at me. And here I thought he was always nice to me.. the _other_ me!! But there, you saw it!! Even the pharaoh defended him!! Like they're always right and I'm always wrong!!', snapped Bakura as he reverted into his other half and entered the class. The gang watched Bakura go with awe. Jyounouchi scratched his head dumbly. 'I'd never thought Bakura would react like that... but he said that Yugi...'

'He's right..', said Anzu suddenly. The trio glanced at her at the same time. 'If you had to know... right now, Yugi had already began to look more like his other self! Hey, do you think Yugi hadn't grown taller ever since the Battle City tournament?', said Anzu again as she started to leave. Jyounouchi stopped her. 'Hey, Anzu...! Do you know something about this?'

Miho pushed Jyounouchi aside. 'Anzu, haven't you went visiting him yesterday? Tell us, what was wrong with him?'

Anzu looked away as she walked back into the class, followed by Jyounouchi, Honda and Miho. She stopped as she reached her own desk. 'Yugi was facing a situation that only he himself could solve it.', she said, looking up towards them. 'It's best that you guys don't ask him about it.'

Having overheard Anzu's word, Kaiba glanced at them; wondering if this had to do with Yugi wanting to meet him later in the day...

--

At the washroom...

Yugi violently splashed his face with the tap water as he leant onto the wall for support. '_Feeling any better, aibou?_', asked Yami as Yugi kept massaging his forehead. 'Nah... I think I needed to go to the sick room. My headache hadn't gone away even though I did take the pills before coming here. That dream... it felt so real that my energy seemed to have been drained...'

/_Then, we should cancel our plan this evening to meet the guy..._/

Yugi searched his left pocket as he pulled out a piece of paper. He scanned the paper a while before putting it away again. 'No, we will go there. I don't know why... but I thought about me having those dreams, it must have got to do with this meeting...'

/_But, aibou... this could be a trap!! You are already weaken... it'll be dangerous for you!!/_

Yugi glanced towards his other self. 'That was a risk that I should take!! _Mou hitori no boku_, don't you realize this? We maybe had found out parts of your lost memories but we still didn't know why were you sealed inside the puzzle in the first place! And I had those dream that could probably explain what happened!!'

_/But aibou!! This is still a big risk on you!!/_

Yugi smiled as he left the wash room to go to the sick bay. 'I'm not worried. As long as both of us are alive, I could always trust you to protect me. As I will protect you... am I right, Yami?'

Yami sighed as he yielded to him. 'Yes, you're right... _aibou...'_

_--_

'Ahahahahah.. Honda!! You could never beat me in winning Shizuka's heart!! I'm a lot better than you and you know it!'

'Hey, Otogi!! Who said that you're better!! You're just one lousy, squid-headed..'

'Cut it out!! None of you are getting a go at my sister until I said so!!', shouted Jyounouchi as he looked around for Yugi. Both Otogi and Honda started begging for Jyounouchi to give them a chance but he ignored them as he saw Yugi coming out from the school building. He ran towards him.

'Yugi!! Wanna head home with me? We could drop by the gaming alley on the way home...', Jyounouchi asked as Yugi shook his head politely. 'Sorry, Jounouchi-_kun_. But I was waiting for Kaiba-kun... and I had to go someplace else after that. _Gomen_...'

Jyounouchi's eyes widen at the mention of the name. 'K..Kaiba?! Why do you want to meet him?'

'I had something important to ask him. See you later... Jyounouchi-kun!', said Yugi as he sped away to find Kaiba, leaving Jyounouchi standing stupidly at the pavements. Anzu ran up to him. 'Why were you standing here for? The others are waiting!', cried Anzu. Jyounouchi turned to look at her. 'Yugi... he, he's meeting K..Kaiba..'

'Then, let him. Yugi can meet anyone that he wants to, even Kaiba-kun. And... uh?'

'What is it? Anzu?!'

Anzu sighed to herself. 'I seemed to left one of my notebooks at the classroom. Don't worry, I'll go and get it..', said Anzu as she ran into the building. Jounouchi walked away as he pondered about Yugi's strange attitude that day...

At the classroom, Anzu rushed to her desk as she found her note book. She was about to leave when she noticed a rumpled up paper inside Yugi's desk drawer. She picked up the paper and read it. 'Hmm...'Meet me at the place where the pieces lays, to find out about the answers you seek'? Haii... this is strange, who would want to put this under Yugi's table?', mused Anzu as she left. Nevertheless, she pocketed the paper inside her bag...

At another place, Kaiba was waiting patiently as Yugi arrived to meet him. Yugi smiled. 'I'm glad you've agreed to meet me...', he said as Kaiba kept his distance from him. 'What do you want from me?'

'I need your help, Kaiba-kun and it was very important..'

[TBC]

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az: And anyway, hope that this update could satisfy everyone... I'm trying my best here, and I hoped that I don't mess up the story.. and what pairing should it be... 


	3. Chapter 3: Mounting anxiety

az: Now this would finally come to my main plot. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!! Hope u guys like this...

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime. Read and review and I don't own Yu-gi-oh. The day when I owned them, was when Jyonouchi became the best dueler and was driving Kaiba mad. Characters and original excerpt from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 3: Mounting anxiety

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

Ding Dong...

Bakura slowly made himself to open the door as Shadi appeared at the corridor. Annoyed at the sudden intrusion, Bakura let him in. But Shadi didn't enter. 'Okay, what do you want?', he snapped. 'Don't tell me that you want to take my Millennium Ring because it's mine!! And I did helped the pharaoh when he tried to regain his lost memories... _um.. well, even with the hidden agenda_... but that's it!! Go away!!'

Shadi, on the other hand was not disturbed. 'Pardon my intrusion but I had to meet all of the Millennium items guardians and I could only locate you. I had an important thing to tell as this matter have to do with the items. I have sensed a presence of a dark wizard coming from the shadow realms to this time and probably aiming to get the items. This would also meant that the item keepers are in danger of attack from this dark wizard...'

Bakura glared at him menacingly. 'If you want me to help you find them, you'd better... Argh!! Shut up!! Ryou, don't you try...', cried Bakura as he changed into Ryou. Ryou smiled apologetically at Shadi. 'Sorry that you had to meet him.', he said as Shadi gave him a very disgruntled look. 'My _yami_ was not in the good mood since Yugi and the pharaoh had treated him badly this morning at school...'

Shadi was mildly interested. 'Is something bothering the pharaoh?', he asked. Ryou shook his head. 'No, it's Yugi. Something was totally wrong with him this morning. He was a little unwell and he even treated us, his friends... indifferently. And the pharaoh was only trying to protect him. Just my bad luck that I bumped into him when I let my other self take over for a while...', explained Ryou as Shadi finally entered the apartment. 'So that's why _that_ runt's mad, was it? But, did Yugi told you guys where he went? I've tried locating him with my powers but he seems to be blocking me with the Millennium puzzle's powers. I'm worried that something bad would happen to him...'

'Oh, is that it?', he said as he suddenly remembered something. 'Ah, I remembered!! Yugi had met Seto before leaving the school. Probably he had told him about where he went...'

'Then, that's where we're going...', exclaimed Shadi as Ryou followed behind.

--

At the Kaiba residence...

Shadi and Ryou had reached the gates as the computer switched on at their presence. 'State your business.', hummed the machine as Ryou answered, 'We'd like to meet Kaiba Seto!! This is very important!'

'Very well..', hummed the computer again monotonously as the gates opened for them to enter. Shadi and Ryou continued walking towards the main building as the door opened, revealing none other than Kaiba in waiting. 'What was it that's so important about that you want to see me, Bakura Ryou?', he said as the three entered the living room, noticing Shadi's presence.

Ryou swallowed hard before beginning. 'Kaiba, do you know where's Yugi right now? Shadi had told me something and he thinks Yugi is in danger of something...', said Ryou as Kaiba exchanged glances towards Shadi.

'It's about the _sennen _items...', said Shadi. Unexpectedly, Kaiba's features changed as he excused himself for a minute. The two waited for him to return....

/_Ch... you two had worried too much about the stupid pharaoh and his other self!! I tell you... those guys are alright.../_

Ryou hissed at his _yami_. 'You don't know that!! What if something really happened?', whispered Ryou urgently.

'Hmm?', hummed Shadi as Ryou sweatdropped. 'No... nothing!! Bakura just said something. Nothing important!!', stuttered Ryou as Shadi asked again. 'That _thief_ hadn't been up to his mischief again, is he?'

Ryou gasped unintentionally. 'Well... sometimes. But, at least now he's a lot nicer. Both of us had been getting along quite well now and he's okay with the others also...', said Ryou at Bakura's utter disbelief. But Shadi hadn't asked again and remained quiet while waiting for Kaiba.

'_Ryou... I never thought that you'd say like that about me...'_, said Bakura. Ryou glanced sideways at his _yami_. '_Of course I'd say that!! Even though, you've done a lot of bad things... but you had saved Yugi's friends from Pegasus last time. And Yugi told me about what you did for me during the Battle City tournament. I hadn't even thanked you for it...'_, said Ryou mentally as Bakura looked at him. _'Yugi told me that you had fought Malik's power and switched with me to take Osiris's attack. If not because of you, I would have already died...'_

Bakura shrugged uneasily as he looked away. _'I can't let you die like that. I'm evil but not so much as Malik. I couldn't have possibly dragged you into his battle even if it involved my victory...'_

'_The pharaoh told Yugi that he was glad that time. He told Yugi that even though you're evil, you had the same duty as the spirits in the sennen items. To protect the other's consciousness. You protected me... and I'm glad you did...',_ said Ryou again, smiling.

Bakura glared at him. _'Stop sweet-talking me!! Or I'll take over!!', _snapped Bakura asRyou grinned.

--

Kaiba returned half an hour later bringing the _sennen_ rod. 'I was wondering about this when he came to me...', he said as he placed his rod on the table. 'He asked me to meet him after school to ask me to take care of this..', he said again as he took out another item from his shirt pocket. Shadi and Ryou gasped but Ryou was taking the shock much worse. Bakura immediately took over him.

'_Sennen _eye?!', Bakura cried as Shadi picked the object up. 'Why did he..', exclaimed Shadi before Kaiba intervened. 'He would have gave me the Tauk also if he hadn't changed his mind. Asked me to take care of the rod and the eye for no reason and when I asked him why, he didn't tell. Said something about having to go some place else and left. Had no idea where he went...'

'But why did he had to ask _you_? I've been his friend for some time and _I_ was the one giving him that eye!!! Why did..'

'Oh, maybe he didn't asked you for the fact that you're a _thief_. An Egyptian tomb-raider at that!', jeered Kaiba at Bakura as he turned away towards Shadi. 'So, what's the problem? I guessed this must have got to do with whatever it is that you guys wanted to tell me, isn't it?', guessed Kaiba. 'Yes, and he's probably in danger...', said Shadi plainly. Kaiba gasped as he immediately rose. 'Why didn't you tell me earlier? Let's go find him!!', he said as he called up his brother through his transceiver.

'Mokuba, search our database for the full map of the city! I'm going out to find Yugi. You back me up!!', ordered Kaiba as he, Shadi and Bakura took the car to head out to Yugi's house. 'Yes, brother... I'll do it..', replied Mokuba as the others set off...

--

'Grandpa!! Did Yugi told you where did he went?', asked Anzu desperately as Sugoroku Mutou helplessly shook his head. 'Yugi hadn't even returned home after school yet... Why, Anzu? Did something terrible happened to him?', asked grandpa.

'Err... I...', stuttered Anzu, unable to reply as the Kaiba Corp. limo stopped at the premise.

Anzu ran towards it as Kaiba, Bakura and Shadi came out. 'You guys!! What the..?', she gasped as Kaiba spoke. 'Did you know where was Yugi now? It's very important!!', he said as Anzu shrugged. 'Don't know. Just a guess. Why were you guys searching for him too?', she asked as Kaiba pulled her towards the car.

'Long story!! Get in, we'll tell you on the way!!', he said as Anzu, Bakura and Shadi got back into the car. 'What's the matter?', asked Yugi's grandpa as Kaiba walked towards him. 'Is Yugi in danger..?', said the old man again. Kaiba took out his card and gave it to the elderly man. 'We are now trying to make sure that he isn't. A dark wizard seemed to come for us, the _sennen _item holders. Call me if Yugi returned home!!', said Kaiba as he left with the others.

Grandpa Mutou watched the car go as he clasped Kaiba's card firmly on his hand. 'Yugi... please be safe...', he prayed as the car vanished from view...

--

'So, Anzu... Do you know where would Yugi probably be?', asked Kaiba as the car stopped at a junction. Anzu pulled the paper she found under Yugi's desk and handed it to him. 'I found this under his table after school today...', she said as she gave the paper to Kaiba.

'To find out about the answers you seek? Place where the pieces lay? Could it possibly referring to the tablets at the art museum?', he contemplated as he looked at the back of the car. 'Shadi, did the two tablets on the shadow games and the God cards still there at the art museum?', he asked Shadi as he nodded. 'Yes, it's still there... The pharaoh's spirit was still unable to retrieve all of his lost memories and it was decided that the tablets should remained until then.'

Kaiba frowned as the traffic lights turned green. 'Then Yugi must be there!!', he cried as he switched the gear and sped towards the direction of the museum. _And hopefully, we're not too late!! Yugi, don't die on me!!_, thought Kaiba as he drove the car through the busy traffic...

--

At the art museum...

Yugi walked absentmindedly towards the Egyptian tablet, featuring the nameless pharaoh and the high priest in duel. He placed his hand on the glass casing, directly over the pharaoh's carvings. 'The lost memories of my other self. Could we ever retrieve it?', mused Yugi silently as his small voice echoed along the empty chamber.

'_Someday we will retrieve it, aibou... Someday we will. We have to believe that!!'_, said his _yami_ as Yugi slowly nodded. 'Yes, we have to believe. I..' Suddenly, there was a sound of another's presence not far from where they were. Yugi turned around instantly. 'Did you hear that, _mou hitori no boku?_', whispered Yugi as he looked around the chamber.

'_I heard it too. Probably the guy who sets us up. When we entered this place just now, not a lot of people were present. And less of them had ever reached here and strayed long, not like they allowed it. Let's investigate...'_

'Un..', said Yugi as they heard the sound again, from the hallway not far from them. Yugi silently followed the trail of the sound as he reached another dark and empty chamber. 'Probably they had started preparing this chamber to place more artifacts...', mused Yugi as suddenly he heard a sound of moving chains. And before he knew it, several chains magically rose from the floor and caught both his hands.

'_Masaka!?_ It's a trap!!', gasped Yugi as he tried to free himself, only to find that a summoned monster had emerged from his back and a large clawed hand hovering inches from his face. Yugi's breath almost stopped as he felt the claws piercing his skin. But more the tension mounted as he heard and saw the person that was laughing in satisfaction at him at the end of the chamber.

'_Aibou, stay calm!! I'll protect you_...', said Yami but Yugi shook his head. '_Yami... it's him!! It's the mage from my dream!!_', cried Yugi as Yami gasped in surprise...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Oh... cliffy!! Long time since I made a good cliffy!! Actually, I dunno what I'm doing... not very good with words... but I'll check this later... 


	4. Chapter 4: Despairing possibilities

az: Okay... I'm proof-reading everything right now... hope this will be the last time...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime. Read and review and I don't own Yu-gi-oh. The day when I owned them, Yami would be dead and Yugi would turn into a different person. Just joking!!. Characters and original excerpt from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 4: Despairing possibilities 

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

--Kaiba Seto--

_'Kaiba-kun, please keep these with you...', said Yugi as he handed the sennen tauk and eye to the bespectacled Kaiba. 'What the... what are you thinking? It's okay when you asked me to keep the rod. Even though I didn't really believed in it, the rod chose me as the keeper. But why did...' _

_'There's no time to explain!! I had to go somewhere else after this, but I have to make sure that at least these two sennen items are safe in case something happened to me...'_

_'What do you mean? Would something bad happen to you? Where are you going?', cried Kaiba. Yugi started to fidget but the sennen tauk suddenly glowed bright. He immediately took the tauk back as he gasped. 'What is it, Yugi? What were you worried about? Tell me!!' Yugi shook his head. 'I'm not sure... And just in case, keep this!!', said Yugi as he took out his deck and took out the Obelisk card. He placed it on Kaiba's hand. 'I knew that you'd take care of it. At least if something really happened to me, not all three of the God cards would be lost...', said Yugi again as he left in hurry._

_'Matte... Yugi!!', cried Kaiba in vain as Yugi disappeared from view..._

I should have guessed that something was wrong when he said that. I could have stopped him!! Or better, I could have followed him. That way, at least he would have someone to back him up.

I pulled the car to a stop as we reached another traffic lights. Damn, why the traffic had to be so slow at this time!! Yugi could be in danger somewhere, even as we speak! I glanced on my _sennen_ rod on the dashboard. And somehow, I've got a feeling that I had to use the power anyway to save Yugi. Yeah, I know that me and him were not so close. He had his own set of friends to go about. Especially that one nameless so-called duelist called _Jyounouchi_. Even in a millennia, I would never have had liked him. But his sister was kinda cute...

Eh? I shouldn't be thinking of that at this time!! I took out the God card that I had once owned. God of Obelisk, the stone giant. In a million years, I never thought I would find out more that I should when I acquired this card. Never did I imagined that the old memories of three thousand years would resurface from the back of my mind with it. And like it or not, I found a friend in him... again, like Isis said it has once been between the pharaoh and the high priest from the stone tablet. Yugi, don't fail me...!

'Yesterday, Yugi told me something...'

I looked sideways to where Anzu was sitting. 'He told me that he was having strange dreams about the pharaoh. He was troubled, as the dream might told him about the unknown mysteries of the _sennen _puzzle. Of whether he was really the reincarnation of the pharaoh, of his _aibou._ And he was worried if he would ever retrieved the lost memories...', said Anzu as she trailed off towards the moving traffic. The red light changed green as I turned left towards the museum. It's stupid, I thought. He'd probably went there to find out about his past, even if it was dangerous...

'Foolish!! Why did he was so overwhelmed by that? Even if I myself was eager to know why did my soul was trapped inside the _sennen_ ring, I don't want to know how I died during that time. At least, not _that_ badly...', said Bakura as he started to get into my nerves. 'Shut up, you twit!! You're getting on my nerves!!!', I said grumpily. To top it off, the maniac laughed!! The nerves...

'Hahahaha... I knew it that you liked him!! Even when you blabbed about taking revenge on him for defeating you, you liked him!!! Muahahahah!!', taunted the maniac again. Pish, you've asked for it! I took a sharp turn to the left as the passengers were thrown sideways. Ah, how the jackal screamed. He had hit his head on the window, hard!! Hah, that should teach him not to mess with me...

'Seto!! I'll kill you for this!!', cried Bakura as he massaged the lump on his head... --##

--

Yugi tried to move his arm free but the chains prevented him to do anything. He tried looking at his back to see what was the summoned monster that was behind him. And he saw it as he realized that it was a zombie warrior.

'_Mou hitori no boku, take over me... now. If you used your powers to summon a monster, perhaps we could escape!!'_, said Yugi calmly (or at least he tried to be) as Yami glanced at him.Yami nodded as they immediately switched. The puzzle glowed as Yami took over. The dark mage, who had been luring them towards here was apparently surprised.

'It's seems that you had now able to unlock the _sennen _puzzle's dark powers, is it dear _prince?_ Or should I say... pharaoh?', snarled the dark mage as he loomed closer. Yami was startled. _He knew who I was?_, he thought as Yugi nodded. '_Yes, Yami... In my last dream, I saw him trying to get you. Probably also wanted to kill you...'_, said Yugi as he started to sway. Yami glanced worriedly at his _hikari_. '_Aibou!! Are you okay!!?'_, he cried. Yugi shook his head. '_Don't worry about me. Just don't let him get you and the sennen items!!' _

'Oh..!!', gasped Yami as he remembered that he still had the _sennen_ puzzle, tauk and the two God cards on him. _Right, I should not let him take them.._, he thought as he started focusing his powers. The dark mage suddenly stopped in his tracks as he noticed Yami's actions. Yami looked up as he cried, 'Black Magician Girl!! _Shoukan!!_'

Immediately, the puzzle glowed brightly and Black Magician girl emerged by his side. Yami swerved as Black Magician girl attacked the zombie warrior. The zombie warrior countered but perished later as Black Magician girl was a lot more powerful than it. The zombie's sword flung towards Yami but he tactfully repositioned himself so that the sword hit the chains instead. The chain holding his right arm dented and Yami pulled hard until the chain broke. He cried in pain as he felt his wrist broken. He leered towards the black mage hatefully.

'Who are you..? What do you want from me?', barked Yami as the mage laughed maniacally.

The mage glared at him with glee. 'You don't remember me? So, it's true about what the rumors said. You had no recollections of your past memories... three thousand years ago. How interesting...' Yami frowned as the mage drew closer. 'I want your _sennen_ puzzle and... the _sennen_ tauk.', said the mage as he noticed the glint of tin metal on Yami's neck. 'And don't even tried smashing the puzzle again because I already knew that trick...'

_Smashing the puzzle? Would something happen if I smashed the puzzle to pieces?', _thought Yami, baffled as he ordered Black Magician Girl to stand guard. Yugi frowned as he stood beside his _yami._ An idea struck him suddenly as he turned towards Yami. '_Mou hitori no boku, you had to duel with him!! That's our only way out!',_ cried Yugi. Yami glanced at him, puzzled.

'_Duel? Are you sure, aibou? I don't want to risk you life... if we dueled with him, you might be hurt. It's the yami no GAME we're talking about!_'

'_Yes, I'm sure. I had this thought... someone had told me that...' _Yami nodded as he too felt the same way. He stared towards the mage. 'Stop right there, nameless mage!! I challenge you to a duel!!'

--

The Kaiba Corporation limousine swerved to a stop as as they reached the museum. Anzu, Seto, Bakura and Shadi dashed towards the museum with Seto in the lead, as he ordered for the museum admin to let them in. As they entered, the four of them dashed towards the Egyptian exhibit...

--

--Kaiba--

We dashed towards the location of the ancient tablet, but Yugi was not there. I was devastated to the point of breaking. He must have been here, I felt him. And I felt the dark powers growing powerful. I turned to face the others. Yes, I'm not wrong. Shadi and Bakura were restless. They'd probably felt the intense dark powers too. This was the same feeling as the time when Malik and Yugi were dueling with each other using the dark game. So that means Yugi was dueling with the enemy using the dark game!!

'He was here...'

I turned my glance towards Bakura. 'What do you mean?! Of course, he was here!! But the question is... where?!!', I shouted at him as my anxiety grew intense. Bakura looked up towards me but his eyes revealed neither hatred nor irritation. 'I knew that... look at this!', he said as I looked down to where he was showing. His _sennen _ring had glowed bright. And the ornamental pieces of the ring was pointing towards one direction... the hallway on the right!!

'Okay!!', I said as all of us headed towards the hallway. I patted Bakura on the shoulder as I passed him. 'Good job!', I said as I thought I saw a sincere smile radiated from him. The four of us continued running. And my rod started to glow bright. He's here, I can feel it. Yugi's calling for me! Please... let us make it on time! I don't want to lose a friend when I finally realized that I had one!!

My rod glowed again and this time, I felt something flying to my hand. I stopped on my tracks. The others too. 'Kaiba, what is it?', cried Anzu as I looked at what is it that I was holding...

Obelisk?, I thought, surprised as I started running again; followed by the others. Did Obelisk came out to aid me or does it felt that Yugi needs our help? I looked straight towards the opening up ahead. I'm coming... my friend!!

--Bakura--

I saw Seto looking at the card on his hand before running off again. We followed him. I felt strange suddenly. When the guy patted my shoulder just now, it felt so good. I never thought being a nice person could feel so great!

/I told you../

/Shut up, Ryou.. I was thinking to myself!!/ Nevertheless, maybe I had the same feeling too towards the pharaoh and his light. Probably that's the reason on why I was feeling sincerely hurt when both of them treated me unfairly this morning...

Aah!! Let's focus on this matter first!!

--

KABOOOM!!

The foursome stopped on their tracks as they reached the chamber, full of dust and smoke after the explosion occured. Bakura looked around as the chamber had been turned into a vast dark realm. 'Perfect for dueling and summoning larger monsters..', drawled him as Anzu hushed him up. The smoke slowly cleared as a shadow of a black dragon loomed into view. And then, they saw it...

Several distance from them, Yugi fought to stay upright as Black Magician Girl stood in front of him to protect him. Meanwhile, Red Eyes Black Dragon slowly dissipated into thin air as it was finally defeated by the giant five-headed dragon, summoned by the dark mage.

Yugi suddenly coughed out blood as he collapsed on the floor. Frantic for his safety, Anzu called out his name...

--

--Yami/Yugi--

I stood frozen as Red Eyes Black Dragon vanished in front of me. Black Magician Girl stood firm as she noticed me weakening and took my arm to support me. I coughed out blood as the energy was drained out of me. I collapsed.

/Yugi!!/ Suddenly, I heard somebody calling me... _Minna_, forgive me...

'Master, are you well? Can you summon you magic again?', asked Black Magician Girl as I shook my head. 'I could try... but I don't know if I can..'

Suddenly the enemy laughed heartily. 'Hahaha... you're mine. As well as the sennen items! Prepare to die!!', he said as the five-headed dragons started to attack again. _ No, if I don't do anything... we'll perish here!! The dragon had summoned the flames.... I'd die for sure!_ But, Black Magician Girl immediately wrapped her arms around me.

'Black Magician Girl!! What are you doing? Let go!!', I cried, panic rose in my voice. 'My powers was unable to defeat the dragon... but I have enough to keep you alive!!', she said as the flames grew closer...

'Black... Black Magician Girl!!'

KABOOOM!! I closed my eyes, unable to witness Black Magician Girl sacrificing her life for me. But then, I still felt her holding me. I opened my eyes to find her equally surprised. Both of us turned towards the dragon to find Obelisk standing guard before us. I was surprised.

'Yugi...!!', cried someone as I turned around to look. Kaiba, Bakura, Shadi and Anzu rushed to my aid. Kaiba stopped at my side as he spat. 'You stupid!! Don't you dare run around endangering your life like this ever again!!', he barked as he used his rod to break the other chain that was holding my other hand.

'_Gomen nasai..., minna!!_', I gasped as Seto looked away towards the enemy. The dark mage gasped in surprise as he saw Kaiba in front of him.

'CURSE YOU... _SETH!!_'

[TBC]

* * *

az: It seemed that I had used a lot of PoVs in this fic, spare Shadi. Heck, how in the world could I write it... I dunno how his mind works!! 


	5. Chapter 5: Fight to the death!

az: Whoiee... I never knew that I wrote so many mistakes....

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime. Read and review and I don't own Yu-gi-oh. The day when I owned them, Anzu would kiss Yugi!! Characters and original excerpt from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 5: Fight to the death!!

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

'You have been a little too careless... pharaoh-_sama_...'

Yami quickly turned to face the speaker whose voice doesn't match any of his arriving friends as Black Magician stared at him in mock anger. 'Mahado...!!', gasped Yami as Anzu started to check on him. 'I would have had to sacrifice myself again if the others hadn't come quicker...', scold the ex-priest again. Black Magician Girl tried to disagree. 'But _sensei_, pharaoh only tried too...'

'Silence...!! I'm talking to him!!', barked Mahado aka Black Magician as the others watched.

Yami looked down on his knees. 'Sorry...', he whispered softly. 'I just don't want any more people getting hurt and _aibou_ said that...'

'This is no time to mope about it right now, Yugi. Get up and fight again...', said Kaiba, irritated as he pulled him up. Yami winced, as the pull caused his broken right wrist to move. Anzu immediately caught his injured arm and bandaged his right hand using her head shawl. 'What happened to you, Yugi?', asked Anzu as she tried to took off the chains in vain. But the pain in the wrist prevented him to answer as Kaiba pulled him back.

'Having a great reunion just yet? And it seemed that all of the _sennen_ item have been brought here to my convenience. This is exciting...', drawled the enemy as Shadi and Bakura rounded the others with Black Magician, Black Magician Girl and Obelisk on their guard. But something unexpected happened as Bakura suddenly collapsed on the floor. Despite his injuries, Yami rushed to Bakura's aid.

'_Daijoubu desu ka_, Bakura?!', cried Yami as Bakura tried to pull away from him. Bakura suddenly writhed in pain as something dark came out of him and tried to attack Yami. But Mahado was quicker as he repelled the dark spirit away from Yami and went towards the dark mage. Bakura slowly regained consciousness again. 'Bakura..!!?, cried Yami again as he helped him stand.

'It's okay... Yugi. I'm fine.', said Bakura as both looked up towards the direction of the enemy. Black Magician kept a firm glance towards the mage.

'Pharaoh... do you know who was the dark mage right there?', said the dark magician as the dark presence that had been coming out from Bakura revolved beside the enemy. Yami shook his head as Mahado continued, 'It's the mage Heishin, who was the...uh? _Masaka.._ that cannot be!!?', exclaimed the dark magician as the others looked towards the enemy. The dark presence had accumulated into Zork Necrophedius and hovered beside Heishin.

'Zork Necrophedius?!!', exclaimed Bakura and Yami as he frowned. _That bastard!! I thought the pharaoh had already destroyed him..._, thought Bakura as he glared towards the hateful spirit._ It's because of him that the villagers from my past were killed and I had been tricked to take revenge on the wrong people... I never thought he'd still be inside the ring.._

Heishin glanced towards Zork. 'Who are you? What are your intentions for showing yourself?'

'I only desire the death of the pharaoh...', drawled the dark spirit as he hovered around. _And also the powers of the dark realm_...

Yami cast a dark look at the enemy that he'd thought he'd already vanquished. _He's trying to do me in again, with the help of that mage. Funny, even without aibou telling me, I still felt somewhat familiar with this person. Though, now we had two enemies to defeat. But this time, I've got Bakura on our side. All of the sennen item holders were here. There's no way that we could lose!!_

_--_

Kaiba seized the chance to attack the enemy's summoned monsters. 'Obelisk!! Attack the Five-headed God dragon!!', exclaimed Kaiba as Obelisk destroyed the five-headed dragon in one go. But Heishin had called out his magic as Zork summoned a monster. The magic created a strong whirlwind at them, deterring them from attacking. Shadi quickly created a barrier to prevent them from being blown away.

But during the commotion, Obelisk suddenly was attacked and the stone giant vanished from sight. Kaiba gasped as the others saw the monster that had destroyed Obelisk. It was Diabound at its final stage!! Bakura was aggravated by this turn of event and summoned Dark Necrophedia while Kaiba summoned his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Both ordered their summon monster to attack along with Black magician and Black Magician Girl. But Diabound still stood as it delivered its blow towards the monsters. Kaiba and Yami called their three summon monsters back as defense but Bakura sent Dark Necrophedia to receive the attack...

Dark Necrophedia perished as Bakura clutched his chest from the attack. Anzu and Yami was worried for him but Bakura assured them that he's fine. Yami scowled at the sight of monster, Diabound. Yugi then emerged beside him.

/_Mou hitori no boku_, you know what we have to do.../

/Aaah, _that_... we should use all the chance we had before the monster used the shadows to its advantage.../

Yami opened his eyes with determined expression. '_Minna_, I would try to summon Ra. It's the only way to defeat Diabound...', he said as Bakura gave him a surprised look. 'You can't, you've already hurt badly!! Even if you could summon it, you'd die from the effort!'

'Then, what should we do?! We had no other way!!', exclaimed Yami as Kaiba added. 'Bakura's right... Yugi, you can't...'

'There's a way...', said Mahado as he turned towards Yami. 'If my powers could combine with you, you'll have enough power to summon Ra without endangering your life...', he said again as Yami nodded. 'Do it...', he said as Mahado changed into a magical energy and entered the _sennen_ puzzle. Yami stepped forward from the others to summon.

'_Kami no shoukan!! Ra no yokushinryu!!_', exclaimed Yami as his _sennen_ puzzle glowed brightly. Immediately the sky above parted, revealing streaks of bright light. At that brief moment, the others could have sworn that they saw Yugi's image overlapping his other self as he summoned the legendary dragon. But Zork knew already that Ra could defeat his Diabound easily. So, he cast a dark magic towards Yugi as he was summoning...

Black Magician Girl noticed the action and tried to save him but was too late. The magic hit Yugi squarely as he collapsed to the floor. Bakura and Black Magician Girl dashed towards him as Kaiba sent his Blue Eyes to attack Zork. Zork was repelled backwards as the attack decreased his magic powers.

'_Yugi, shikarishirou!!',_ gasped Bakura and Anzu as Yugi remained unmoving. He hissed with anger as he resolved himself again to fight Zork. Bakura stood as Anzu carried Yugi over her shoulder. He looked up as he realized that Ra was successfully summoned, despite Yugi's collapse. He laughed.

'Hahahaha.... Zork, you thought you could defeat us with this, isn't it?', he said as Zork growled in anger. Bakura raised his voice louder so that everyone could hear. 'Aaah, yes... Ra could only be summoned by certain chosen ones but the _sennen _item holders can still control him!! And I had the _sennen_ ring!! Ra... turn into God Phoenix and destroy Diabound along with the enemy!!', shouted Bakura as Black Magician girl and Blue eyes attacked them together...

--

Kaiba and the others stood still as the dust settled after Ra's destructive attack but Shadi had walked through it towards the fallen enemy. The monsters eventually vanished as the room reverted back into the empty exhibition chamber. Shadi stopped as he reached the enemy.

'You have lost the duel...', he said coldly Heishin looked up towards him. Shadi's eyes flared. Zork's spirit tried to flee but Shadi had placed a seal around them, preventing its escape. 'Accept the dark punishment!! I seal you both into the darkness!! Never to return...!', exclaimed Shadi as a black hole emerged from their backs and swallowed Heishin along with Zork's spirit into the darkness...

Shadi went back towards the others as Kaiba helped Anzu to place Yugi on Bakura's back. Bakura straightened up as Yugi was neatly secured on his back. 'It's finally over...', he sighed as he looked at Yugi's pale face. Anzu sighed too. 'Yeah... but now we had to get Yugi some medical attention...', she said as Bakura nodded in agreement.

'So, let's get to my private hospital...', said Kaiba as the two gave him the look. 'Hey, it's the best around here and they asked no questions!! Other hospitals would certainly ask how Yugi ended up like that and you'd certainly won't want to explain to them...' Bakura gave a thought about this and realized that Kaiba was right after all. Anyway, how could those mere mortals understand if they told them the story?

'So let's go...', said Anzu as they turned to the hallway as she gasped. 'Eh..? Where's Shadi..?', she said as Bakura shook his head. 'That guy always liked to freak people up by popping up and vanishing like that...'

--

The next day...

Jounouchi entered the classroom to find only Otogi, Honda and Miho around his desk, with regards of his other classmates. Oblivious towards anything suspicious, he sat on his chair and folded his arms at his friends.

'Yo.. what's wrong? You guys looked so down...', he said as Honda punched him on the head. 'Hey, what the...'

'Haven't you noticed?', said Otogi as he pointed towards the direction where Anzu, Yugi, Bakura and Kaiba's desk should be. Jouno looked at the empty desk, bewildered. He still didn't get what was his friend trying to tell him. 'Anzu wasn't home when I called. She hadn't returned home since yesterday. I can't call Yugi's house since granpa wasn't home...', said Miho as realizations came to Jyounouchi's head.

'Haa... it's probably a coincidence... don't you guys worry...', said Jounouchi nonchalantly. The teacher entered and the others went back towards their desks. The lessons was started immediately after the attendance was taken. Jounouchi silently took out his textbook as the teacher started teaching. But even though he said what he said, he felt very uneasy. _Yugi had met Kaiba yesterday and he's been totally different. I don't know about Ryou but Anzu seemed to know about what was troubling Yugi. And now, all four of them was missing. Has something happened to them?,_ thought Jounouchi as decided to investigate...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Oh man... I have a lot to fix on mou hitori no Yugi and Yugi's dialogues!! 'sigh' 


	6. Chapter 6: Losing yourself

az: Ooh.... this would be a long day... skip all my other rants before!!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime. Read and review and I wanna declare that I DON'T OWN YUGIOH. Characters and original excerpt from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 6: Losing yourself

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

'Where am I? What is this place?', Yugi mused aloud as he wondered aimlessly around the misty plains. '_Mou hitori no boku..? Doko da omae ga? Mou hitori no boku!!'_, shouted Yugi this time, feeling insecure as he couldn't feel his other self nor having any mind link with him. 'Where are you!!? Answer me!! Don't leave me here alone!!'

'You are not alone, Yugi...', came a familiar voice behind him as Yugi turned around. Seeing someone else other than him in this strange place, Yugi was really feeling grateful. He gasped. 'Shimon!! Thank goodness that you're here!!', he cried as he grabbed Shimon's shoulder. 'Help me... I can't find my Yami!! I can't feel him anymore!! And... the _sennen_ puzzle, it's gone!!', said Yugi in panic. He was almost in tears as his closest companion was nowhere to be seen and his most precious possession was gone.

Shimon Muran shook his head at Yugi. 'You didn't lose it..', he said as he pulled out the puzzle from under his cape. 'And you don't need to find the pharaoh. He's already here...'

Yugi's eyes widen as he glanced around him but saw no one. 'You lied... He's not here...!!', said Yugi as Shimon shoved the puzzle into his hands. 'Yugi!! He's here!! Look at your reflection on the pond!!', cried Shimon again as Yugi looked at the pond, which had magically appeared beside him. He gasped as he saw his own reflection, his face was exactly like the young pharaoh and he noticed himself wearing an Egyptian attire. 'Yugi... _you_ are the pharaoh..! You ARE him as he is you!', said Shimon again but Yugi doesn't respond. Shocked at the revelation, Yugi backed away from him.

'No... it's not me!! I'm not the pharaoh!! You're lying...!', cried Yugi as Shimon caught his hand. 'Yugi... please, believe me!!', said Shimon again but Yugi refused to listen to him. 'Shut up!! I don't want to hear it!! If it's true about what you said, why did you call me Yugi?!'

Strangely, Shimon let him go as he took of the scarf that was covering a part of his face. 'Because that was the name of your present self...', he said as Yugi stood frozen.

'Jii-chan..?!'

Bakura and Seto had just went outside to refresh themselves when they entered Yugi's ward. It was a shock to them when the first thing they saw as they entered was Yugi sitting up from his bed; holding his _sennen_ puzzle which was glowing very brightly. Both of them quickly roused Anzu and Yugi's grandfather up. Mutou Sugoroku arrived the day before, after receiving Kaiba's call telling him that Yugi was in the hospital. The foursome flocked around Yugi as they fussed about him.

'Yugi... my child!! Thank goodness you've finally woke up...', exclaimed Sugoroku as he hugged Yugi tightly. 'We totally worried about you... we thought you were goners!!', gasped Bakura as Anzu added, 'It's a relief that to find that you were fine!!' But Seto was quiet. Even with his grandfather fussing over him while both Anzu and Bakura jabbering about their relief, Yugi hadn't moved or said anything. He didn't even responded to his grandfather when the latter hugged him. Curious over this, he pushed Bakura aside to take a closer look at him; much to Bakura's protest.

'Hey!! Don't be selfish...!! Yugi doesn't belong to you alone!!', cried Bakura but Seto ignored him. 'Yugi.. what's wrong with you.. What the..', he said as he lifted Yugi's face towards him. At that instant, he gasped but he's not the only one doing so. It was unexpected but couldn't be helped. Yugi's eyes were open, but they were blank. Dull magenta but still as empty as death. Afraid if there was something really wrong with him, Seto shook his body, hard. But it didn't work. Though, something else happened...

Yugi's lips had parted several times and Seto lowered his head to catch what was he saying. Seto's eyes widen as he shot up again. The others looked at him, surprised.

'What's wrong, Seto?', said Bakura at him as Yugi's grandfather tried to hear Yugi's words. He gasped later as he looked back at his grandson's friends. Anzu was the first to ask.

'Grandpa... what is it?', she asked but Sugoroku had already spoken. 'He said... 'You're lying...' over and over in ancient Egyptian tongue!!', stuttered the elderly man as he noticed the puzzle on Yugi's hand. Seto noticed it too as he immediately took it away. The puzzle stopped glowing and Yugi's eyes returned to normal. But aside from giving them relief, Yugi collapsed again as his grandfather caught him.

'He's fine... He's only asleep again..', sighed Sugoroku as he felt Yugi's forehead. He immediately pulled his hand away, much to the other's surprise. 'He's burning hot inside...!!!', he said again before any of them could speak. Seto instantly got up as he left to find the doctor. Bakura on the other hand, took the _sennen_ puzzle and placed the puzzle on the small desk beside Yugi's Duel Monsters deck. He fingered the puzzle gently as he wondered what was it that had caused Yugi to react like this.

/Ryou, do you think it's wise for me to enter the puzzle to check it out?/

/Bakura... if you're planning anything sneaky.../

/Nothing of the sort!! I want to meet the pharaoh!!/

/Then, go on!! Do it.../

/Are you sure? What if I can't get out?/

/What do you mean? You've went there before... and you still came back. Just go! I had a bad feeling about Yugi.../

Bakura nodded to himself as he turned to look at the grandfather. 'Grandpa Mutou, I'd like to enter the puzzle to find out what's wrong. Can I?', he asked though he hadn't expected that the old man would agree. So Bakura touched the puzzle again as his _sennen_ ring glowed and Ryou emerged. He smiled helplessly at them as Seto came, telling them that the doctor would come over.

'Don't ask me why. _He's_ anxious to see the pharaoh to find out...', said Ryou when Seto asked him on why on earth Bakura tried to get into the puzzle as he shrugged.

--

Bakura entered the tomblike chamber which was the insides of the puzzle, but he found no pharaoh. Puzzled, he tried to climb every stairways that he could find but still no luck. Exhausted, he sat stupidly on the floor as he surveyed the dizzying array of stony stairways and labyrinth. And suddenly, someone came towards him...

Bakura stood as he greeted the newcomer. When the shadows lifted to reveal the person's face, Bakura gasped...

'You..?!'

--

DING DONG...

No answer. Apparently no one's at home right now. Not even Yugi's mother. Jyounouchi sighed exasperatedly as he left the place. _No luck... not here, Anzu's place and Ryou's apartment. And that leaves one place to go... Kaiba's mansion._ Jyounouchi moaned vocally as he waited for the bus for which he needed to take to get to Kaiba's place.

_Why did it have to be Kaiba who was missing with the others? Why can't it be somebody else? I can't bear anymore of his verbal taunting anymore... Oh, why DID it have to be Kaiba!!? _

'The last place that I wanna go right now...', he moaned again as he got on the bus when it came.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the mansion. But even before he could reach the communicator, a car came out from the gates as it stopped in front of him. One of the car windows rolled down to reveal Mokuba's cheeky face. Mokuba's eyes lighted up at the sight of Jyounouchi. 'Hey, what are you doing here? If you came for _nii-sama_, he's not here!!', Mokuba said as Jyounouchi walked closer. 'Why? Where is he now?', asked Jyounouchi as Mokuba slowly replied. 'At the hospital...'

Jyounouchi gasped in shock but before he could say anything, Mokuba asked him to join him. But Jyounouchi refused. 'Nah... I don't want to visit your brother for anything...'

'But, Yugi and the others were there too!!', said Mokuba urgently. Jyounouchi's eyes widen as he immediately boarded the car. 'What? What do you mean...? What happened yesterday?', gasped Jyounouchi as Mokuba shook his head.

'I didn't know for sure. Brother called yesterday saying that they were all at the hospital. He went out earlier with Bakura, Anzu and an Egyptian man called Shadi to find Yugi. The next thing I knew, they were injured and had to stay at the hospital. Well, not all. Anzu wasn't for one. She stayed there to take care of Yugi. Brother said he had the worst...', said Mokuba.

Jyounouchi was silent. And he still kept himself quiet as the car took them towards the hospital...

--

'And you're sure they were on this floor?', asked Jyounouchi as he and Mokuba walked along the corridors oh the hospital at the sixth floor. No sooner did he said it, Kaiba emerged from their view. Both dashed towards him.

'_Nii-sama, nii-sama!! _You were okay, is it?', cried Mokuba as he looked over his older brother for any sign of injury. Kaiba smiled weakly. 'I'm fine... Mokuba. Just had some chest pains after yesterday's duel...', said Kaiba as he tried to calm Mokuba. Jyounouchi ignored him as he tried to enter the room. Kaiba stopped him. 'You ARE not entering this room...', ordered Kaiba sternly as Jyounouchi hissed with anger. 'Why can't I? Your little brother here, said that Yugi was hurt too so I want to see him right now!!'

'That's why I won't let you barge in there!!', he shouted back as Mokuba pulled his hand to get his attention. 'But _nii-sama... _Yugi was his friend and...'

'I too was his friend!!'

'Since when? I knew him longer than you!!'

'Like I cared? I knew him since...', Kaiba paused as he was about to say 'since three thousand years ago'. 'Aah... never mind..', he said as he took out his _sennen _rod. 'You won't understand that but you will follow my order with this. I'm sorry but I can't let you in... at least until you heard my explanation first..', said Kaiba again as he pointed the rod level to Jou's eyes. Jyounouchi swallowed hard before chancing another comment. 'Like you could ever use that rod...', he said as Kaiba smirked.

'I did use it... particularly, yesterday when I first use it to summon Obelisk...', said Kaiba as he lowered the rod. Jyounouchi gaped at him, stunned. Kaiba asked him to sit at the bench with him and Mokuba and he obeyed nonetheless. None of them spoke for a while, not even Mokuba.

--

'When we arrived, _he_ had already started the duel. Fortunately, we've arrived in time. I managed to summon Obelisk before the enemy could kill him and Mana. (_Jyounouchi blinked in confusion. 'Who's Mana?_) But the enemy was strong... all four of us had to use all of our powers...'

'The four of you..?', inquired Jyounouchi as Kaiba nodded. 'Us... all of the _sennen_ items guardians. It was the Millennium Battle yet again...'

'That should be nothing for you guys...'

'It's NOT!!', said Kaiba suddenly making both Mokuba and Jyounouchi jump. 'It's the _yami no GAME_... That was nothing to play about...'

Kaiba rose as he opened the door of Yugi's ward. Mokuba immediately entered. 'I can let you in on one condition. That you won't do anything unexpected and that you keep this a secret from your other friends. If not... I swear, you won't like it if I used the rod on you...', growled Kaiba as both of them entered the room.

--

Inside the room, a solemn sight awaits him. The lights was dimmed for some reason as Jyounouchi saw Anzu and Yugi's grandfather tended to Yugi. Ryou was asleep on a couch nearby as Kaiba walked towards Anzu. But the worst sight was of Yugi's condition. His face was a mess of bruises and deep cuts, his left arm bruised around the wrist while his right wrist was bandaged for some reason. That doesn't include the bandages around Yugi's chest which he noticed Kaiba and Bakura had some too. He took a seat near the bed as Mokuba tried to wake Bakura up.

Kaiba lowered his head over Anzu as she applied damp cloth over Yugi's face. 'Any changes? Did Bakura came back?', he said as Anzu shook her head. 'Nothing much... but just now, Yugi just muttered something about his father. And he's been calling out your name as well as the others. About Bakura... no, he hadn't came out yet. Ryou was tired so he slept...', said Anzu as Kaiba nodded in understanding. Mokuba walked towards him.

'_Nii-sama_... Yugi's gonna be alright..', the boy said as the elder of the two acknowledged it faintly. Kaiba stared at Yugi's limp form. _He had already been hurt badly before we arrived! And thankfully Mahado had helped him to summon Ra. But... the attack from Zork was really the limit! I don't know why... but I felt deeply hurt when that dark spirit tried to attack us. I wondered why..., _thought Kaiba as he glanced towards Ryou. _Bakura was the same too... I guess. When Diabound destroyed his Dark Necrophedia, he was really getting the full damage onto himself since both monsters had a big difference in level and power. Taking the attack on behalf of the other summon monsters was a big risk on himself..._

Ryou's _sennen_ ring immediately glowed as Bakura returned. The albino got up as Kaiba walked up to him. 'Seto... something I had to tell you. Outside...', said Bakura as both of them went out together...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Thank goodness... I did bothered to recheck this fic. The error was minor but it mattered too much for me... 


	7. Chapter 7: Confusions arising

az: Reminder.... but this time, Yugi didn't look like the short kid that we all knew and loved. He's now really took the look of Yami or his former self... spare the dark skin, okay? Now, back to the story!!

Yami: Az... you said something about me having a cousin. Where is he? Where.. where?

az: "slapped Yami hard" You already know that... baka!!!

Yami: Oh? Gomen.... "blushed"

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime spare the DVD that I so much treasure until the end of time. Read and review and I wanna declare again that I DON'T OWN YUGIOH. Characters and original excerpt from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 7: Confusions arising...

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

Bakura chuckled mockingly to himself as he and Kaiba sat on the bench outside. He sighed later. 'Hey, what did you found out? Stop ignoring me!!', said Kaiba as Bakura grinned at him for becoming so agitated. 'Nah, Yugi... he's pretty messed up now...', said Bakura as he started to get serious again. Kaiba frowned.

'What do you mean?', he asked.

'Yugi was very confused about himself. I don't know... Zork's attack was probably what that had triggered it. . Both Yugi and the pharaoh's will was very strong, each of them tried to protect each other as the attack would certainly destroyed either of their souls. But the puzzle prevented that... It had merge both souls into one and now Yugi's confused about who he really was...'

Kaiba was stunned. 'How... how did you know this?', he gasped as Bakura replied. 'When I entered the puzzle, I got lost. Couldn't find him but when I almost give up, the Black Magician came to me instead...'

'Mahado..?', said Kaiba as Bakura nodded. 'Yeah.. yeah... whatever you called him. He told me that was what happened and it's good actually since Yugi and the pharaoh were really one of the same! He said that when the pharaoh sealed Zork within the puzzle, he sealed only part of his soul since he can't seal his soul completely or the ritual will not be completed by him. And after that you think yourself! I don't want to go into the confusing things...', said Bakura as he folded his arms at him.

'And what happened to Yugi..?'

Bakura sighed as he continued. 'The apprentice of that mage, Black Magician girl was watching over him. Yeah..$$%$#! I know what you wanna say!! Her name was Mana, right?! Pish... Anyway, found him with her. But he refused to come out... I told him to face the reality and he'd say that he'd try. Well.. he did agreed after I coaxed him for the hundredth time. I think you have to talk him through, he listens to you...', said Bakura again.

'Maybe I would...', said Kaiba as the door suddenly opened. Yugi's grandfather, Anzu and Jyounouchi came out as they prepared to leave home. Jyounouchi shrugged as he stood in front of Kaiba. 'I give my words to you... as long as you don't call me a dueling monkey again.', said Jyounouchi as he grinned at him. 'And anyway... Yugi's condition won't let him to have a lot of visitors. He needs a lot of rest to recover. Thanks for all you've done for him...'

Kaiba nodded as he muttered a low reply of 'You're welcome, _Jyounouchi'_ at him. Mutou Sugoroku patted him on the shoulder. 'Take care of my grandson while I'm gone, okay..', said the elderly as Kaiba looked up to reply. But he hadn't expected to see a shadow of Shimon Muran, flashing in front of him for the moment.

Mutou Sugoroku frowned as he noticed Kaiba not replying, face paled for some reason. 'Kaiba-kun, are you alright? Maybe you too needed to rest...', the old man said as Kaiba blinked at him. 'Oh... _gomen!!_ I've been seeing things...', he said apologetically as he wiped out his face. 'Don't worry, gramps... I'll watch over him. If anything happens, I'll call immediately..'

Sugoroku's stare softened a little as he tapped Seto's shoulder lightly. 'Don't pressure yourself too much. Yugi can take care of himself...', he said as he and the other two teens left for home.

'Aah... and I think I'll go home too...', said Bakura as he rose from the bench. Jyounouchi stopped in his tracks as he glanced towards Bakura. 'You really think you could? I thought that blast had you hurt badly...', retorted Kaiba as Jyounouchi slapped his back lightly. Bakura coughed badly. 'Hmm... I don't think you should leave yet... stay here, Bakura!', said Jyounouchi as he ran off to catch Anzu and Yugi's grandfather. Bakura's face flushed. 'Hey!! This injury was not a big thing to me!! During my own time, I've got injuries much worse than this and I still lived...!!!', shouted him as Jyounouchi gave him a parting wave.

Bakura sighed angrily as he sat back on the bench. A resounded chuckle from his side made him turn. 'Hey, what are you laughing about?', retorted Bakura as Kaiba tried to control his laughter. He rose as he started towards the door. 'Khihih... wait until Yugi woke up! Gotta tell him about this...', muttered Kaiba as he went in. Bakura fumed as he chased after Kaiba to regain his dignity...

--

[Dreamscape]

Kaiba ran around in circles as he tried to figure out where he was right now. A stone archway lay in front of him as he kept walking. 'I knew this place...', he mused aloud as he walked blindly ahead, though it seemed that he was being pulled towards a certain direction by some unknown reasons. And then he stopped, as he arrived to a door. Kaiba opened the door to find that he was in a sleeping chamber fit for kings. As he marveled at the intricate carvings on the wall and the unique golden statues that decorated the chamber, he saw a shadow of a youth sitting on his bed while checking out his favorite duel monsters card with interest. Recognizing the face of the youth, he immediately rushed towards him.

'Yugi!! What are you...' Yugi looked up towards him as Kaiba noticed that the spiky-haired youth was wearing an Egyptian clothing. As he was. The youth smiled at him. 'Aah, Seth!! Finally you came! I've been looking all over the palace for you when I came back, but you were nowhere to be found..', said Yugi as Kaiba let out a gasp.

_Seth? Palace..? What is this...?_, thought Kaiba puzzled as Yugi frowned at him. 'What's wrong? You're angry... isn't it? I sneaked out to play again and you're mad...', said Yugi as Kaiba shook his head to deny. Suddenly, the scene changed as he was now standing at the throne room.

'I'm surprised to see you here... Seto...', came a voice beside him as he looked sideways. Yugi was sitting on the throne, though his clothes were of his blue jacket and trousers, totally didn't match the scene around them as it is. Kaiba folded his arm and frowned at him. 'Bakura told me that you were messed up. So silly of you... But from what I'm seeing... you were no different than before...', he said as Yugi's smile faded. 'You thought you knew everything about me, isn't it!!? Well, you're wrong!! Go away...', cried Yugi as he tried to walk away. He slipped over the uneven altar and fell unceremoniously down the stairways.

'Yugi!!', cried Kaiba in panic as Yugi laid limp at the end of the stairs...

--

'Yugi!!', cried Kaiba as he woke up to the dark hospital room again as he noticed Mokuba and Bakura sleeping on the couch. He breathe heavily as he turned his glance towards Yugi's bed. _Something doesn't seem right_, he thought as he realized something.

'Yugi's gone!!', he cried out as Bakura and Mokuba woke up groggily. 'Mokuba, call up Yugi's grandpa and the others if you can!! I'll go search for Yugi!!', said Kaiba as he stormed out of the room. 'Wha...?', yawned Mokuba as Bakura wiped out his eyes lazily. Finally realizing the real situation in front of them, both jumped out of their wits and run off outside. One to search for a friend while another to call out for help. Mokuba fumbled for Yugi's home number while Bakura sped off towards the stairs...

At Yugi's house...

Mutou Sugoroku sighed as he let himself rest while Anzu served them iced tea on the table. The elderly man thanked her gratefully as he took a sip of the tea. 'It's certainly a relief since my daughter-in-law, Iria was not home. Or else, she would be frantic over Yugi...', sighed the old man as Jyounouchi and Anzu drank their tea also. 'And is it alright if you two stayed here for the night? Don't your parents worry?', asked him again. Anzu shook her head saying that her parents didn't mind while Jou replied that his father won't even care in his drunken state. The three of them had continued chatting as the phone rang...

'I'll get it!!', cried Jyounouchi as he sped to the telephone. Anzu poured some more tea to herself as she went on talking. 'Grandpa, what did Yugi's mom do? She doesn't seem to stayed at home long...', she said as the old man smiled. 'Archeologist. Same as his father, though Iria only helped out in a dig at certain times only. She had stated that she still needs to look after Yugi. So, since the research of ancient history was very much important to him and cannot be abandoned easily, both Akira and Iria had decided to separate for the best...'

'Oooh...', sighed Anzu as Jyounouchi dashed at them, hurriedly. 'It's bad!! Mokuba just called. Yugi was missing from his ward!!!'

'What!!?'

--

Kaiba climbed the stairs effortlessly as he came to the top of the building. As he had guessed, Yugi was standing alone at the balcony. (Well, I had no idea what to call it...) He walked towards Yugi as the young pharaoh turned around to face him.

'I'm impressed that you could find me here...', said Yugi in an undertone. 'Yugi... come back to your ward, you are still sick...' Yugi closed his eyes at the remark. 'Don't tell me what to do...!', he said darkly. Kaiba frowned. 'I've had it!! First, it's Shimon saying that my soul had been merged into one! The next was Mahado and Mana, telling me to be calm!! After that, Bakura... Not only that, Shimon even changed into my grandpa to convince me...! Who are you kidding?', cried Yugi as Kaiba listened attentively...

--

At the same time...

'Come on..! I heard that Kaiba had found Yugi on top of the building...', exclaimed Bakura as he led Mokuba, Anzu and Jyounouchi towards the stairs, 'Hopefully, nothing bad happens!!', cried Anzu as they dashed up the stairs...

--

'None of us...', said Kaiba as Yugi chuckled softly. 'Seto, you won't understand...', said Yugi as the others finally reached the landing. Jyounouchi apparently, was about to jump towards Yugi before Bakura stopped him. The ex-tomb robber hushed him out to hear Yugi's revelations.

'Can I ask you a question? If for a few month you have gotten used to talk to your other self that came from a sealed Egyptian artifact and to find out later that you can't do that anymore... what would you feel?!!', cried Yugi in anguish. 'Yugi... snap out of this!! You can overcome this problem!! Come on... this is not like you!! You are a lot stronger than this...'

Yugi chuckled mockingly at him, causing Anzu and the others (Yeah... even Bakura!!) to get freaked out beyond their nerves. Yugi never act like that!! Not even his Yami...

'So _what_ is like me...?', snapped Yugi as Kaiba's face started to go red in anger. Kaiba fumed. 'What is like you? I wonder..."looking suddenly thoughtful" ..the young prince who's going to be the next pharaoh in line, who loves to sneak out as commoner outside to play cards? That's sounds so much like you... running around like a naughty brat and took great liking to beating me at Duel Monsters...', said Kaiba mockingly, causing the four spectators at his back to gasp in surprise at the strangeness of his remarks. Yugi was stunned to his spot before smiling towards his rival-cum-friend.

Yugi scratched his head in annoyance. 'You could remember that?!!', he smirked. 'I could only retrieve not much of what's left of my old memories but this... coming from you is something. But it's probably nothing... We were once cousins, so it's no shock if you could remember that. We were once so close... well, quite...' Now, it was Kaiba's turn to be shocked. 'Cousins...?', he gasped.

'Haah... you didn't know, isn't it? You were Akunadin's son, the son of my father's brother and the man who have sold his soul to the darkness that had created that Zork entity. But, never mind that fact anyway... I'm just glad to have at least be related to you, if not in this life...'

'Yugi...? What are you saying? I don't care about that shit anymore... and what it have got to do with now?', cried Kaiba as Yugi started to sob. 'I'm confused... Kaiba-kun!! My mind had been split into two for so long that it's confusing to look back to it now that my consciousness had become one again... It's hard to think straight...', said Yugi as Kaiba stepped closer to hold his hands. 'Yugi... you can do it!! You are far more stronger than this... I will support you all the way if necessary, no, all of us!! You're not alone in this game, Yugi...'

'I know that...', said Yugi as he looked behind him. '..._gomen, minna_!! I'm sorry if I made you guys worry...' Kaiba let out a gasp as he glanced behind him to find Mokuba, Bakura, Anzu and Jyounouchi standing not far from them. He immediately let go of Yugi's hand as his cheeks started to burn. _Oh.. no!! The small role was also here and Bakura too. I just said something that I won't want anyone else to know... and now they were here!! Shit!!_, cursed Kaiba silently.

'Anyway... Kaiba-kun, I've been thinking it thoroughly. If I ever to go on with my life, I have to forget the _me _right now and find my true self. Or else I'll go insane with the knowledge that I once had two separate personalities for a long time...', said Yugi as Kaiba gave him the surprised look. 'What are you saying...?'

'That's the real reason that I brought you here to find me. I wanted to ask your help and support for this... and I had meant to keep this from the others, but... "looking at his friends behind them"... it seemed that I can't do that. So, Kaiba-kun... can you seal my memories for me with your _sennen _rod?!', said Yugi in a firm voice as Kaiba and the others gasped in surprise...

[TBC]

* * *

az: waa... hard work.... 23 chapters to reproof-read.... 


	8. Chapter 8: Trust me minna!

Yami/Yugi: You made Kaiba act so nice with me.... Thank you!!!

az: Ek? Why? Do you have anything on him...?

Yugi: No... just, I have always wanted to be his friend...

az: Yeah... you're the only one who dared call him Kaiba-kun...

Yugi: "blushed" So what? I called Jyounouchi-kun's the same too...

az: But Seto-sama even let you call him like that... must have been something...

Seto: Shish!! Nonsense... don't you go bullying my cousin!!!

az: Aah.... since when were you related to him? =

Seto: Since I adopted him as my cousin yesterday!!!

az, Yami/Yugi: Hah?! O=O"fainted:

A/N: How many times now had Yugi fainted? Hmm... well it's the last time you'd see him fainting again for several chappies ahead...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime spare the DVD that I so much treasure until the end of time. Heavens will fall while Osiris and Ra became my pets if I ever owned Yugioh. Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 8: Trust me... _minna!!_

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

_'...So, Kaiba-kun... can you seal my memories for me with your sennen rod?!'_

Kaiba glared at him, stunned as Yugi firmly kept his ground. Jyounouchi immediately stormed out towards him. 'Are you crazy?!', he shouted as Yugi didn't respond. '..How could you asked him... or anyone else to do what you requested? It's out of the question!!', scold Jou as Yugi fought his grip to get free. It worked but the effort drained his energy as Yugi fell backwards into some old wooden chairs. Yugi flinched as he clutched his broken wrist in pain. The others immediately rushed to his aid.

'_Ittai..._', Yugi gasped as Jyounouchi helped him up. But Yugi seemed to not be able to stand anymore as Jou kept supporting him up. 'I just cannot do nothing!! I can't think straight with all these thoughts rushing at me...', gasped Yugi as he clutched his chest in pain. The _sennen_ eye mark suddenly appeared on his forehead as he looked up towards them. 'Please... Seto...', Yugi begged. 'I'd do it myself if I can. But I'd probably end up erasing my memories completely, and I couldn't bear it if I did..'

'Yugi...! There must be another way to help you...', cried Anzu as Yugi shook his head hard. 'I could use my powers to block the memories for a while... but in my weak state right now, I could not control my powers too long... I could die if I tried..', said Yugi as Anzu hugged him tight. 'But I don't want to lose you...', she whispered to his ear as Yugi nodded. 'Me too...', he whispered back as he took a long breath of air. He slowly gathered his strength as he walked towards Kaiba.

'Kaiba-kun... don't worry. I won't really forget you guys... just my memories sealed for a while. During that time, I would still be your friend. The seal can always be broken. And maybe it could last until my powers are strong again. Then I'll worry about this myself... okay? Trust me...', said Yugi again in a pained effort as he glanced around him. 'I promised that I won't forget you guys completely... Jyounouchi, Kaiba-kun, Anzu... Bakura and Mokuba... I promise...'

Kaiba nodded as he hesitated to pull out his _sennen_ rod. At that instance, Bakura stopped him. The albino stared at Yugi stiffly. '..You promised not to forget... Even me? Or Malik and Ishizu... and Rishido?', said Bakura hoarse as his voice started to break. 'Yeah, even them..', said Yugi weakly as Bakura let go of Kaiba's hand. Kaiba raised his rod towards Yugi. 'You promised... I'll kill you if you break it!!', Bakura cried as the rod flashed its beam on Yugi's forehead. The _sennen _mark immediately broke away as Yugi flashed his last smile at them. His body immediately went limp as Kaiba deftly caught him from falling...

--

'Come on... Otogi, you told me yesterday that you were confident that you'd beat me in basketball. So let's play...!', cried Honda as he loosened his buttons. Otogi glared at him in disbelief. 'What...?! Challenge you right now? No-uh... I don't want to be late for class. You go ahead and play yourself!!', snapped Otogi as he strode towards the main school building. Honda just gaped at him before joining him. 'Aaah... then this afternoon after class.. Deal?', said Honda as both enter the class.

Otogi grinned. 'Deal!!', he said as Jyounouchi emerged in front of them. Honda's face lighted up as he jumps up to his best friend. 'Jyounouchi!! Funny to see you coming to school so early!!', he chirped as Jou pushed him tiredly. 'Honda... it's annoying me out!', whined Jyounouchi as he placed his head on the table. Honda and Otogi stared at him questioningly. 'What did you do yesterday to get so tired like this? Watching some tapes until late night again?', mused Honda as Jyounouchi shot a death glare at him. 'I did not!! I was up late to take care of... umm, my neighbor's nephew.. Yeah, that's it...', said Jou as he almost slipped up about Yugi.

Both Otogi and Honda rolled their eyes at him as not believing any of his words. Kaiba entered the classroom later as Otogi darted at him instead while Honda stayed with Jou to tease him some more. Miho smiled as she walked up to them before addressing Anzu who was sitting nearby.

'Anzu.. why didn't you came to school yesterday? I called your home yesterday and your mom told me that you had been out since the day before...', asked Miho as Anzu replied automatically, 'I had been helping out on Yugi's house that day! Grandpa was a little ill so I stayed there to take care of him with Yugi since his mother went overseas...' Miho's eyes widened in surprise as she heard Anzu's explanation. 'Oh... is it bad?'

Anzu shook his head. 'He's getting better but Yugi's still watching over him...', she said as Jyounouchi smiled at him. But then, he remembered something as he walked up to Kaiba.

'Yo, Kaiba...!! How's your _cousin_?', chirped Jou as the said person looked up towards him. 'Is he getting better?'

Kaiba nodded as Honda and Otogi gave each other a puzzled glance. 'He's fine. Woke up this morning and feeling a little better. His wrist was healing too..', said Kaiba as Jou smiled. 'So Kaiba, what happened to your cousin anyway?', asked Otogi along with Honda as Jyounouchi silently slipped away from them. He shrugged knowingly at Anzu as Miho moaned over not seeing Ryou for another day again. Kaiba grinned at her as he deftly answered Honda and Otogi's questions regarding his sick _cousin_. Well... Yugi was his cousin, technically anyway. At least, this was how the three of them would refer Yugi as until he was better and could get out of hospital. After that, was another problem.

'And anyway, Miho... Bakura called me before this...', said Kaiba as Miho suddenly perked up; though the mentioning of Bakura's name still scared her. Not that she would ever forget her experience of ever becoming a wooden doll in a Monster world game. '..He said that he wouldn't be coming to school this week since he had a flu...'

'Oh? Then, I'll go visiting him after school!!', chirped Miho to Kaiba's horror. _Oh man... then the cover would be blown!! Bakura was still in hospital!!_, thought Kaiba in panic as he paled at the thought. _Oh well, I don't care anymore!! Let her go there!! Bakura will still not be there.._.

Kaiba slammed his head on his desk, dumbfounded as Jyounouchi came to his rescue. Honda and Otogi quickly jumped away at the weirdness of the scene in front of them. 'Hey... Honda!! When did Jyounouchi and Kaiba gets so close?', asked Otogi in horror. Honda felt the same way. 'Let's get far from Jou for a while, 'kay?' Otogi nodded vigorously.

Meanwhile, between Jyounouchi and Kaiba...

'Hoi... calm down!!', Jou whispered. 'You told me to not freak out but you're doing _exactly_ the thing...!'

'How should I react? Yugi had asked me to do something drastic and I'm _still_ recovering from the shock. And I got to cover for Bakura to make it worse?!', breathe Kaiba as Jou patted his shoulder. 'So, how's the albino?'

'Okay I guess... he took over my duty to watch Yugi for us. I think it's good now... Yugi's fever had somehow subside. Probably because both of his memories had been sealed and he could finally rest without any disturbing memories...', said Kaiba softly, as he continued. 'You and Anzu would be coming to visit him this afternoon, wouldn't you? Yugi might not remember you now, but he still would be glad to meet you two...'

'Sure... why not?

--

'Yugi...! Look here... there's some people I want you to meet!!', chirped Kaiba as he opened the door to meet him. Yugi turned to face him and smiled as he invited him to enter the room. He shrugged. 'Bakura-san had been out for an hour now. I thought I'd have no other people to visit me again...', said Yugi as Seto fumed. 'Grrrr... how dare he left Yugi alone here!!'

'Seto... you don't need to be angry. I'm not totally been left alone these past hour...', said Yugi as Kaiba looked at him, puzzled. 'What...?!', he gasped. 'Mahado and Mana kept me company...', said Yugi as the KaibaCorp CEO frowned at him. 'How..? And anyway, I said I got some people to introduce to you... here, Anzu and Jyounouchi... come in!!', said Kaiba as both of the said teens entered the room. Yugi stared at them without any signs of recognition in his eyes. Anzu walked up to him. 'Hi! You looked well today...', said Anzu in a friendly tone.

Yugi looked at her blankly. 'Why did you talked to me like that? Do I know you..?', said Yugi in a strange tone as Anzu gasped. Yugi's eyes widen as she saw Anzu looking so distraught. 'Ah, _gomen..._ did I made you feel uncomfortable? Here, let's be friends!! My name is Yugi Mutou...', said Yugi as he held out his hand at her. Anzu nodded as she shook his hand, though she felt a sharp pain in her heart when Yugi didn't recognized her. Jyounouchi was distraught too and had tried to speak before another voice stopped him in his tracks...

'Yugi!! I thought I've told you to rest already!!', boomed the voice as Kaiba, Anzu and Jyounouchi turned around to look. The young man who had spoken walked into the room and sat beside Yugi without being invited. Surprisingly, Yugi wasn't bothered about it as he instead, smiled at the newcomer. Kaiba glared at the man as he felt a twinge of familiarity towards the man. _Purple hair, piercing eye... he looked strangely similar to... Black Magician!!?_

Yugi grinned at the man as he didn't notice the shocked look upon his visitors. 'Mahado... don't be so harsh! I've got some visitors... and I was trying to complete my _sennen _puzzle again. It's a bother when I can't complete it.. and where's Mana?', said Yugi as he pouted at Mahado. Mahado fumed as he started wrestling playfully with Yugi.

The others watched their antiques in awe. 'Yugi's completing his puzzle? Nah, Kaiba... what did he meant?', asked Jyounouchi. Kaiba nodded his head at him. 'Last night when I carried him back to his room, the puzzle had already broke apart. I don't know why, but the puzzle probably reacted along with Yugi. So it seemed that as Yugi linked up all the pieces of the puzzle, he would also pieced up his heart and soul with it...' The other two sighed in realization as Kaiba frowned. _Mahado... how could he emerge in this form? Is it because Yugi was in this state?_

'You _baka_!! I was worried about you and what did you do? You're so stubborn, I wondered why hadn't any people scolded you for that...', said Mahado as he tried to box Yugi's ears. 'Aaah, you're just like Shimon!! Kechi!!', whined Yugi to the surprise of Mahado. 'Aah? You remembered about Shimon?', he gasped but Yugi seemed to have forgotten that he had even mentioned the name of his old guardian. But suddenly, Yugi's expression changed as he hold Mahado's hand firmly. Mahado glanced at him in surprise.

'Mahado... I can't thank you enough. You had always protected me for a long time, I don't know how I could repay your kindness. To me, you were like an older brother to me...', said Yugi as he leant on Mahado's side. Anzu, Kaiba and Jyounouchi stared at Yugi in disbelief. 'How could he remembered that Mahado had always protected him...?', hissed Kaiba as Mahado caressed Yugi's face affectionately. Yugi had already started falling asleep at the comfort of Mahado's presence. The former man smiled.

'Let me answer that question for you...'

Kaiba jumped back startled as Mahado looked up towards him. 'The pharaoh's memories may have been sealed but the pieces lay scattered in his mind. But he would have a hard time to figure them out. But then, I realized that when I revealed myself in front of him in his dreams last night... the pharaoh seemed to be able to recognize me. So, I took this form so that he could piece back his memories of the past... and his present self.'

'Oh, really...?', said Kaiba as Anzu cut him. 'But then, why can't he at least recognize us? His present friends?'

Mahado looked away. 'The present Yugi... as he would have liked to tell you, which was the other self of the pharaoh... reborn after 3000 years; had still the old memories of his past which had been buried deep inside his heart. That and the memories his other soul regained when he entered the memory world, was much stronger than that of his newer memories. That's why he could recollect parts of his past memories easier than the latter...'

'Ooh...', gasped Anzu involuntarily. The ex-priest added, 'But it doesn't matter... since most of you had been present when Yugi was the pharaoh, no... when he was a still a young prince during the ancient times...'

'What..?', gasped Jyounouchi as Kaiba reacted the same. 'All of you wouldn't have remembered...', said Mahado suddenly. 'The young prince had always a kind heart and a passion for games. He had always cause his guardian to go berserk every time he sneaked out to play. And I bet, he met you kids during those times when he ran out to play...'

Jyounouchi stared at the sleeping Yugi with interest. _Yugi had now kept the look of the other self of him for good. Hearing this former man telling us the childhood memories of the pharaoh, convinced me that the two Yugis were really the same person. Yugi had always loved to play games... and he had a gentle heart..._

Suddenly the door was opened in a rush as two people entered the room. Bakura fumed at Mahado as he dragged a lively girl at his back. 'Mahado!! What did you told your student, hah? She couldn't stayed away from me!!', exclaimed Bakura as Mana pinched his cheeks playfully. (Bakura: Cut it off!! It's embarrassing!!)

Mahado smirked. 'Hehe... it's payback for taking my _sennen_ ring...', he hissed as Bakura glared at him. 'What did you just said..?', shot Bakura back as Mahado kept smirking...

[TBC]

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az: The songs really kept me going... . Especially loved Wild Drive and Ashita. Liked Shuffle too but kept having illusions of Yami coming out from the ancient tablet in style!!! Aaah... so charismatic... hahaha!!!

A/N: I seemed to get attached to Mahado and Mana... can't help!! Bought the DVD part 2, have a lot of Mahado scenes!! He really cared about Yugi... either it's Hikari or Yami. It strengthen my views that the two were the same... aah, he'd ALWAYS protected Yugi in EVERY duel he played... . Got to love him... very loyal!!


	9. Chapter 9: Questions and puzzles

az: Hai.... where did the reviewers go... Okay, I got my Duel Monsters deck, Seto's set. Now to make it stronger... During that time, please review.... onegai!!! And hope that I could finally get the last part of DM DVDs... part 4!! I wanna see Yugi defeat Marik!!! No offence...

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime spare the DVD that I so much treasure until the end of time. Heavens will fall while Osiris and Ra became my pets if I ever owned Yugioh. Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

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Chapter 9: Questions and puzzles

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

'Oh, I have spoken too much... I think me and my apprentice should leave now...', sighed Mahado as he gently placed Yugi's head on the pillow. He rose and grabbed Mana's arm to leave the room before Seto stepped aside to stop them.

Mahado paused and frowned at him. 'What do you want... _priest?_', he growled as Seto flinched at the very mention of the word 'priest'. But he fought to remain calm as he asked, 'What was the _real _reason for you to come here, _dead guy_?' Jounouchi and Anzu gasped as they heard Seto. Mahado smiled. 'You've realized? Yes... I was dead. Killed by the thief who stole my _sennen _item...', he said as he glared at Bakura for the moment. Anzu glanced at the albino, thinking about his _sennen_ ring. 'But placing revenge aside, I had a more important duty. Ever since I came into service, I have vowed to protect the pharaoh's son until he rose to claim the throne. And since then until now... I will always protect him!!'

Jyounouchi begged to differ. 'But Yugi won't want you to do that!! He would want for you to keep on living another life!! I believed Yugi wanted you to release your soul from himself...', said the lad but amazingly, the ancient priest smirked at him. He nodded. 'Yeah... I believed that he would be thinking like that...', said Mahado dejectedly. 'His words just now, told me enough. And I've seen enough of his anguished face every time he uses _my card_. Every time when he was almost been defeated by the opponent, I would have always stopped it by sacrificing myself instead of him on receiving the attack. He had not liked that...'

Seto smirked. 'You knew that... and still you foolishly protected him to no end!! I never seen such stupider act...', he said before glancing at Jyounouchi. '..or, maybe not...', said Seto with a grin. A vein twitched on Jyounouchi's head as he threw a cushion at Kaiba but missed. Mahado walked towards the side cabinet where Yugi's DM deck and _sennen_ puzzle lay, followed by Mana. He searched the deck as he found his own card along with Black Magician Girl card.

'It's stupid... But Yugi had been a target of bullies ever since he was small. Right then, even when his grandfather had found the puzzle; I can't come out to protect him since he hadn't completed the puzzle yet as my memories and his other soul still lies inside the _sennen _puzzle. So, I wanted to redeem myself for that until he wouldn't be needing our protection anymore...', said Mahado as he and Mana glowed and their spirits reentered the cards. The two cards fell neatly on top of Yugi's deck as the occupants in the room kept silent.

Seto harrumphed. 'Silly... but not like I didn't expect it...', he said as he replaced the deck into Yugi's card holder. 'Loyalty of the Pharaoh's servant... Yugi, you really had that power to make people respects you so much...', said Seto again as he nudged Yugi's forehead several times with his forefinger. Jounouchi was vexed. 'Stop that!! You'll wake Yugi up!!'

'Like I cared!!', exclaimed Seto, mischievously.

'_Seto no baka.._.', moaned Yugi in his sleep as Kaiba's face flushed red. Jyounouchi, Bakura and Anzu snickered as they amused themselves with Kaiba's antiques...

--

'Okay, Yugi!!! Let's duel... You might not remembered it, but you were a very good duelist!!', cried Jyounouchi as Anzu sat beside Yugi on the bed. Yugi shook his head in refusal. 'No... I don't want to..', whispered Yugi, much to everyone's surprise. 'What is this, Yugi? Before, you would never turn down a dueling challenge!!!', cried Kaiba.

Yugi stared at Kaiba meaningfully, causing the taller guy to wince involuntarily. 'I can't. The cards... it's like, they're calling me!! Asking me to remember... and I don't want to...' _I'm not ready for this..._

Kaiba grabbed Yugi's shoulder as he realized something. _Yugi had started to fight the memory charm I placed on him!! But this... could it be that he was still scared of himself? You were braver than this... Yugi!!_

Jyounouchi hissed angrily as he took Yugi's deck into his hand. 'It's not fun!! If you don't want to help yourself... let me just throw this deck into the trashcan...', he said as Kaiba and Bakura exclaimed. 'Stop!!! The God cards are there too...! Are you stupid?!', both of them shouted. Jyounouchi smirked. 'Like anyone could use it... since it's owner was making an excuse to avoid it...', he said as he made a move to leave.

'Stop it!!', cried Yugi as he rose from the bed. He gasped as he clutched his heart painfully. 'Why did you want to force me?! You have no right to do that...!! Even if I don't want to duel with you... you can't just take away my cards and threw it away!!', cried Yugi as he fled from the room, albeit to everyone's surprise. Jyounouchi put back the cards on the cabinet as he smiled. 'The trick sure worked...', he said before getting a punch from Kaiba. Jyounouchi blinked at him as he rubbed the sore on his cheek.

'Yugi was still hurt!! And you chiding him on won't make his condition any better!! I can't believe anyone would act so stupid.. but then, you ARE stupid.....', said Kaiba as he and Bakura walked out to find Yugi...

Jyounouchi frowned at Anzu as he rubbed his sore cheek. 'I can't believe this... Kaiba was _actually_ taking over my role around Yugi...', he said as Anzu gave him a scary look. 'And I don't blame him!! You're acting like a jerk...', she said as she too got out of the room. Jou sighed as he was the last to get out and locked the door...

--

Kaiba dashed towards the roof as his instincts led him there. He looked around for any sign of Yugi.

'Yugi...! Are you here? Come on... let's talk. I know you were still confused about yourself... but you don't have to face it by yourself!! We're your friends... we'll help you...'

'Go away... Kaiba-kun...', came the muffled voice answering him from behind a large water tank. Kaiba smiled as he approached Yugi's hiding place and sat beside him. He smirked again. 'Aren't you too old for playing hide-and-seek at this time?', said Kaiba as Yugi clonked his head with a rubber bat he found on the ground. 'Your spell was not strong enough....', drawled Yugi as Kaiba continued snickering beside him.

'Ehehehe...uh? Yugi? You broke the spell already?', said Kaiba as Yugi shook his head. 'Not really... but there still some loopholes where I could remember asking you to do it... and events before that...', he said as he buried his face on his knees. 'And I remembered some of the duels I've had... and I still could feel the hearts of my cards. The cards... they were very sad...'

'But Yugi... you shouldn't run from it!!'

'Kaiba-kun... the fear of losing the sense of being me... still existed. Every time I touched the cards... the fear came.'

'My life had been strongly influenced by the game... in a way that all my memories were centered around them! I just... afraid of facing the knowledge that my true self were neither of my normal self nor my dark self. This feeling... it's because I've always hide my true self from others. Even without realizing that I did...'

'Then... you have to face it like the true duelist you are!! You don't have to force yourself to do it... just take it as it is...', said Kaiba as Yugi reluctantly nodded his head. 'I'll try... and Kaiba?'

'Hmm..?'

'I hoped that you and Bakura will keep this a secret...'kay?', said Yugi as Kaiba raised his brows at him. 'Why told that brat about this anyway? I could keep this by myself anyway...' Yugi smirked at his former cousin. 'Because he's here... come out Bakura!! Or Kaiba-kun would think you're too old to hide behind a pillar...', said Yugi as Bakura emerged from the exact place mentioned. 'Your senses are still good...', cooed Bakura as the trio sat together. 'And I'll keep this a secret too... not like it mattered anyway. And I forgot to tell you!! The doctor told me this morning that you and I could check out this place by tomorrow. Said something about our internal injuries had healed somewhat...'

Yugi smirked. 'Not _all _of our injuries...', he said as he tried to move his right hand around. 'Makes you feel glad that I still remembered your stupid face, isn't it?', said Yugi as Bakura grinned at him. 'Yeah... feel any better? Your two friends were still frantic to find you...'

Yugi nodded as Kaiba ushered them off downstairs...

--

Jyounouchi, Anzu and Mokuba turned around to find the three _sennen _item holders walking jovially towards them. And all three of them were smiling as they came by their side. But the smiling faces faded as all three looked up towards the awaiting trio. Kaiba was slightly surprised to find Mokuba present. He gasped. 'Mokuba.., when did you came by? I hadn't noticed you before...'

The younger of the Kaiba brothers grinned cheekily. 'Just finished school and I'd wanted to visit you guys. I was surprised to find a lot of things had happen since I left...', said Mokuba as he walked up towards Yugi. The young boy held up a basket of fruits to him. 'Your grandpa had asked me to give this to you... He said sorry as he can't come to visit since he had a lot to do at the time...', said Mokuba again. Yugi took the basket as he smiled weakly at him. 'Thanks... Mokuba-kun...', said Yugi.

Mokuba smiled at him and frowned as he noted the sad tone Yugi was using. 'What the...', he gasped as he turned his glance towards his brother. 'Did _nii-sama_ bullied you while I'm gone, Yugi?', chirped the youth as Kaiba gave him a weird smile. 'Oh? Then before thinking about what I did with Yugi, you'd better worry about yourself!!', drawled the elder over Mokuba as he ruffled his _otouto's_ hair. 'Come on... Yugi was already tired. Let get him back to his room...', he said again as all of them returned to Yugi's ward.

But suddenly Jyounouchi made gestures to leave as everyone stopped in front of Yugi's room. Yugi glanced at him, doubtfully. 'Err...', said Yugi as Jyounouchi grabbed his shoulders. 'Yugi... I... I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings earlier... I didn't really mean it when I said I'd throw your cards away. I knew what the cards had meant to you...', said Jou as Yugi shook his head. 'No, Jyounouchi... you don't have to...', stuttered Yugi as Jou pulled him into a brief hug. Yugi unwillingly broke into tears as Jou let him go. The blond grinned. 'Oi, Yugi... The last time I saw you crying was during our duel at the Duelist Kingdom's finals and during the time when we're stuck in the virtual reality game...', he said as Yugi gave him a strange look. Apparently, he hadn't remembered those times.... or Yugi had done his best to look like he was. So... what do you think, readers? You guys decide...

Back to the story, Jyounouchi gave a slight shrug as he noticed Yugi's confusion. 'Never mind about that. You'll remember them someday...', he said as he shrugged again. 'It's late... I think I'd better be getting home. I've been meaning to pay Shizuka, err... my sister, a visit. See ya!!', he said as he waved at Yugi and the others. Yugi stuttered as he waved Jou go. Well, he hadn't really forget about Shizuka since after the earlier outburst, he at least now can remember names and some events. But, no way would he tell him, right? He still feels that he's not ready for this...

Anzu seemed to have the same thoughts as Jou when she too said her goodbye. 'See ya, Yugi. Take care...', she said as she gave a peck on Yugi's cheek. Yugi blushed at the sudden action as he waved goodbye to both of his dear friends. Seto, Mokuba and Bakura entered the room as Yugi slowly walked in and sat on his bed. Seto gave Yugi a probing look as he noticed that the lad was a little distraught. 'Yugi..?', he said as Yugi glanced at him. 'Something's bothering you..?'

Yugi shrugged. 'I... I don't know. Just feeling a bit uneasy...', he said. _Yeah... a little bit. As if it was. Part of the old me; which was the normal Yugi... knew that Anzu had liked my Yami, even if, at that time my other self hadn't realized it. Now that I'm him and he's me... I wondered what Anzu would see me as, now?_, thought Yugi solemnly as he watched Seto and Ryou bullied Mokuba playfully. He smiled, watching them so happy. Mokuba laughed heartily as he dodged his brother's tackle, while he jumped on Yugi's lap.

Mokuba grinned at him. 'Thanks, Yugi...', chirped the boy as Yugi gave him a puzzled glance. 'Why...?', said Yugi as Mokuba said, 'I thought I would never seen the day that _nii-sama_ would smile again...' Yugi glanced towards Seto as he realized that the elder brother had indeed smiled at them. Yugi snorted. 'I guess, I had something to do with that...', he said as he and Mokuba joined the two for a fair 'fight'. _I guess... I'll think about that later..._, thought Yugi as he and Mokuba mischievously popped a plum into Seto's mouth when the latter tried to announce his defeat over the two...

[TBC]

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az:.... Bought a Kaiba deck, so now I got Blue Eyes!!! Yea!!! I was ecstatic... Ch... Bought part 4. But pish... there's another part!!! Screw the distributor.... Now I had to buy anther two sets of YGO DVD.. part 1 and part 5... --## 


	10. Chapter 10: Reminiscence

az: Haii.... what a ni-----ce day to fix my fic.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. Heads will roll if people found out that I OWNED Yugioh.... NOT!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

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Chapter 10: Reminiscence

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

'Aah!! Jyounouchi.... _Chotto matte kudasai!!_', shouted Anzu as she chased after the blond lad who had passed the hospital gates. Jyounouchi stopped and turned himself around as Anzu managed to catch up with him. The poor girl breathed heavily as she tried to regain her breath.

'Why did you left also? Didn't you want to stay with Yugi longer...?', said Jou as Anzu walked home with him. The girl sighed. 'I don't know if I should stay with him right now. Yugi didn't recognize me... and I could feel that I am a stranger to him now...' Jyounouchi glanced at her in surprise. 'Anzu!! How could you say something like that? But tell me one thing first... do you liked Yugi? I mean, _really_ liked him...', asked the lad as Anzu's face flushed red at the inquiry.

'I... I'm not sure...', replied Anzu, doubtfully. Jyounouchi slapped his forehead one time. 'Anzu... don't tell me thatyou're... Yugi had always liked you!! He never tells but I knew...', said Jou as Anzu cast a nervous glance at him. '..Err, I'm afraid that Yugi would be angry if I told him this...', she said as Jou groaned. 'Why, Anzu... you..'

'I had liked his Yami for a long time...'

Jyounouchi gasped as Anzu continued. '..and I think I've started to see Yugi in a different view, not just as a childhood friend. Or as a sister.', she said as she paused. 'Throughout all these years, what with the Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, the memory world and everything... Somehow, I had started to be confused on which of them that I liked...'

'Anzu!! It doesn't matter now! Both of them had become one now...'

'But would Yugi be angry if he found out about this? What happened if he recollect his memories before this and realized this fact? He would never forgive me...'

/Yeah, I would never forgive you!! I already knew.../

Anzu gasped suddenly. 'Jyounouchi? Did you said something just now?', said Anzu as Jou gave her a strange look. 'I didn't... what? And Anzu, before you make any assumptions... you'd better talk to Yugi about this...', said Jou as he left Anzu to head towards another road fork. 'Jyounouchi...?', she gasped as she looked back towards the direction of the hospital. 'Yugi...', she sighed to herself as she thought about the lad. She was confident that she had heard Yugi's voice just now. She sighed again as she resumed walking home.

/Anzu... just forget about me. The old Yugi and his Yami were no longer existing. They're dead now. What's left now was _me_.../

She heard the voice again, this time she was really sure that it was Yugi's. Anzu clutched her chest as a silent tear swept across her cheek. 'No, Yugi... That's a lie! I'll wait for you, no matter how long does it take... I love you...', whispered Anzu softly as she ran towards her house.

/We'll see about that..../

--

Kaiba sighed in contemplation as Mokuba hold out the apple slices that he had sliced from the basket of fruits Yugi's grandpa had sent through him. The older Kaiba picked up a slice and chomped into it. 'So, what now... Yugi? What do you want to do? Do I have to put another memory spell on you again or what..?', said Kaiba, sarcastically. Mokuba's eyes lighted up as he heard his brother. 'Yugi!! Is that true? You already can remember everything? So soon?', gasped the boy as Yugi smiled at him.

Yugi nodded at the young boy as he gave a mocking laugh towards Kaiba. 'But not all of my memories I had remembered, Mokuba-kun. And Kaiba, there's no need to put me under that spell or anything... I'll destroy what's left of it right now...!!', said Yugi as he grabbed his half-finished puzzle. Bakura, Kaiba and Mokuba looked at him in shock as Yugi pieced back the puzzle in a fraction of seconds!!

Kaiba caught his hand as Yugi was about to replace the last piece of the puzzle. 'Yugi... are you sure about this? Don't be rash...', he said as Yugi smiled at him. 'It's okay...', said Yugi as he pulled his hands away. 'These few days... I had been recovering a lot, thanks to your medical team. I think I could handle the full memories of my past and present. You yourself said that I have to face it... one way or another...'

Kaiba nodded as Mokuba and Bakura showed their support too. Yugi glanced at them as he prepared to insert the last piece of the puzzle. At that moment, images of his friends and families flashed in front of his eyes. _Mahado... Mana... Seto, Bakura, Ishizu... Anzu and Jyounouchi... Grandpa... Minna, give me your strength..., _whispered Yugi in his heart as he popped the piece at the bottom of the puzzle. Immediately, the puzzle glowed and a beam on light shot towards his forehead, to reveal the _sennen _eye mark. The mark glowed for a few seconds before vanishing into him. Yugi gasped as the full blow of his memories rushed into his mind.

'Aah!!! _Ittai..._', cried Yugi as he clutched his forehead with his injured hand. Kaiba grinned at him as he gently pulled Yugi's injured hand down. 'Of course, it hurts... stupid!! You used your injured hand too quickly... bones doesn't heal as quickly as you might think!!', teased Kaiba as Bakura handed him some painkiller and a glass of water. 'Here... if your headache was _that_ bad..', said the albino as Mokuba helped him to swallow the pills.

'Thanks, Mokuba-kun. Bakura... Seto. I think, starting tomorrow... the four of us would have to do a lot of acting...', said Yugi as Bakura shrugged. 'You can count on me!! I'm always a good actor!! I've always could fool you guys when I acted like Ryou...', said Bakura pompously as Mokuba poke him at the ribs. 'Don't be too proud!!', cried Mokuba as Bakura made a face at him.

/Mokuba's right! It's not fun when you assumed my identity and fool people that you were me... It's like you're underestimating me.../

[Ooh... Ryou, don't say that...! It's not like I didn't changed my attitude, all these two years since the memory world incident...]

/Yeah? And should I trust you...?/

Bakura rolled his eyes at his other self. [Ch... if you have to be so edgy... Why don't you take over now?], Bakura snapped as the _sennen _ring glowed and forced Ryou to come out. Ryou blinked in confusion as the others stared at him in surprise. Ryou smiled helplessly at them.

'Sorry... just had a fight with myself...', he said as he pulled his chair nearer towards Yugi. '..anyway, you can count on us. I'm sure the others would understand...'

Kaiba nodded. 'So, tomorrow morning... I'll pick you guys up from here. Transportation was scarce here at the mornings... and I don't think your grandfather could come by himself, Yugi.', he said as Yugi's eyes widen. 'Wha..? It's school day tomorrow!! You...'

'...don't need to worry. Anyway, the next day was Saturday and the term would end in about a month!! No fuss!!'

Ryou smirked at the young CEO as he rolled his eyes at him. 'I never thought I'd be hearing this from you... Kaiba.', he said as he received a teasing jab on his shoulder by the latter's younger brother. Kaiba gave him another smirk. 'Why... can't I?', he said as Yugi, Ryou and Mokuba laughed their heads off. 'No... I just can't imagine someone like you to think about skipping schools with leisure...!', said Ryou again as he laughed again.

'So maybe... the story was true! Whoever could unleash the powers of the _sennen _items could obtain not only the dark powers it held... but also cleverness!! So we don't really need to go to school...', mused Yugi loudly as Kaiba sent a powerful smack on his head with a pillow. 'Yugi!! Don't tease me... I didn't become CEO of the KaibaCorp with the _sennen _powers!!'

Yugi's grin widen in amusement. 'Oh yeah? So Ryou and I were not clever then, eh? Even before the items came to us... we have already had some good brains...', teased Yugi more as Seto wrapped his arm around him. 'Hey... you're being silly now... I'm not the only young CEO here, you know...'

'Oh... speaking of that, Yugi... you are still the CEO of the Industrial Illusions, aren't you?', said Ryou suddenly as Mokuba nodded at them. Yugi shrugged. 'I guess so... I _did_ defeat Pegasus. And the guy said if I win him, I'll get 60% of the shares. But right now... I just left Pegasus's old assistant to run the company. And don't forget, Pegasus is still there!! They've already working on the DDM game Otogi had created. I wondered when will Pegasus come to ask me more about me being it's new CEO...', said Yugi as he added. 'I don't know what to do with it... my family was never into those kinds of business, though grandpa might be interested. There's a lot of the old games at the shop and he'll be glad to make more money...'

Kaiba laughed as he ruffled Yugi's hair. 'Hahahaha... we should probably make some kind of franchise between us! So, Yugi... Is your grandpa and mum your only family..?' Yugi shrugged. 'I guess so... I never knew any other relatives since I was very small, and nobody came to visit us. And I had long since meeting my dad after my parents separated...'

'Oh...', sighed Mokuba as he jumped towards his brother's lap. '..perhaps, that's for the better... I can't imagine what it'll be like if you had relatives like ours...', said the boy as Ryou shrugged. 'Well... I can't say much about _my _family. With my father occasionally moved around for various archeological digs, my family never stayed in one place long. I barely knew any of my relatives... and I don't think any of them would be pleased if they knew about Bakura...', said Ryou as he received a warning jab from his other self. 'Not like it mattered... since I lived by myself now...'

The foursome sighed heavily. The room was quiet for a few minutes before Yugi coughed out loud. 'So, you two... Aren't you two better be getting home anytime soon?', said Yugi as Ryou stifled a yawn. 'We'll be going home after we see you two off to sleep...', said Kaiba as he grinned at the two. 'Hey!!', cried Ryou. 'We're not kids... Kaiba!!'

Kaiba held out his tongue cheekily as he hugged his younger brother. 'It's exciting to make fun of you two...'

'Alright... don't pull anything funny, I can't stand to have any more laughing bouts!', said Yugi as the three looked at him in amusement.

'Hey... you guys hadn't anything to do... isn't it?', mused Yugi as Kaiba gave him a surprised look. 'You've just _noticed_..?', he said as Mokuba grinned...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Okay... funny to think I'll be writing this at the middle of the Hari Raya celebrations... Well, if I could go sneaking off to buy some booster packs, that'll be fun! Strange... other ppl go around collecting angpows... I'm here writing fics and playing Duel Monsters... hahahah.....

A/N: Kinda short, 'uh? Well... at least one of my fics is getting on... My saiyuki fics are still sleeping as well as the others. No reviews helped that too... hahaha... "laughed like Bakura and Seto" Muahahahahahah....


	11. Chapter 11: Old friends meeting again

az: Okay... today I got a lousy day.... some bastardly friend of mine forgot to mention to me about an important task on hand... regarding my univ. ID card... not until too late... me getting into a wild goose chase. I thought things can't go any worse when I decided to go home anyway, leaving the troubling issue away... man, I had termites in my cupboard and my most sentimental-valued shirt was destroyed on top of everything else... what can make it worse than I took a wrong bus to get out the college and I left my wallet too... so I hope tomorrow would be any better...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'll be the proud owner of the Battle Ship and KaibaLand... NOT!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 11: Old friends meeting again...

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

Ryou Bakura poked his head through the side of the door as he saw that Yugi had already cleaned up his things. 'You're ready...?', asked Ryou as the platinum-blond lad entered the room. Yugi sighed as he placed his deck neatly inside the pocket of his school bag. 'I think so...', he said as he hesitated on wearing his _sennen_ puzzle. He smiled weakly to himself before tucking the puzzle into his already crammed bag. 'Better I not wear this in case someone else saw it...', he spoke again as Ryou raised his brows at him.

'Yugi... are you really serious about this? Keeping the secret that you can remember everything from Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, Otogi, Mai and everyone else..?'

Yugi gave his friend a tired scowl. 'Have we agreed on this yesterday? Don't tell me you've chickened out...', said Yugi as Ryou quickly shook his head. Yugi looked down sorrowfully towards his puzzle. 'It's better this way. At least... until I've sorted out my feelings and identity...personality or whatever it is, let them be under the clouds. Then I won't cause anyone any trouble...'

Ryou frowned as he caught Yugi's sarcastic tone. 'What do you mean...? You wasn't at fault for everything that happen to us!!'

'Oh... really..?', cut Yugi as Ryou froze, for Yugi used the tone of voice that his Yami had once used. 'Then, why did my grandpa had to face Kaiba in a duel long ago? Or why did he have to be taken hostage by Pegasus? Or why Anzu and Jyounouchi-kun have to be turned into living puppets? Or Malik having the life as he had and the tragedies on his family?!'

'And the destruction of the world someday as we know it...?! Yugi, you can't blame yourself for everything that happened!! It's not your fault!!', reasoned Ryou as Yugi glared at him. 'If it's not for my soul reawakening... all of this wouldn't have happened!! If I was to remain dead and never to be reborn again, these thing would never have to happen. Or much better if the _sennen_ items never exist!! Then, my father won't...', Yugi wiped his tears away as he brushed away the painful memory from the memory world incident, '...and Mahado, he won't have to seal his _ba_ along with his _ka _and became Black Magician...'

Ryou patted Yugi's shoulder as a comforting gesture. 'Then the people of Kuru'elna village won't be sacrificed for it...wouldn't it?', said Ryou as Yugi shot a surprised look at him. 'How did... did Bakura told you about that?', asked Yugi as Ryou shook his head. 'No... it's just something that popped on my head just now. I don't know why did I said that. Why... did I said anything wrong? And anyway... those thing had already happened. Nothing we can do to turn it otherwise...'

Yugi nodded his head as he zipped up his bag and shouldered it. 'You're right, Ryou. I shouldn't act like this. Come on... Kaiba's waiting for us...', said Yugi as both exchanged smiles. He took Ryou's arm and pulled him out of the room. Both of them walked steadily towards the lift...

--

'Yugi!! Ryou!!', called a familiar voice towards them as Yugi and Ryou exited the hospital building. Both of the froze as a lively Egyptian blond jumped on them. Yugi was startled. 'Ma...Malik?!', he gasped as the said youth gave them both a hug. Ishizu and Rishido walked towards them afterwards, followed closely by Kaiba Seto. The young CEO just shrugged as Yugi and Ryou gave him a questioning look. 'Hey... they found out about what had happened that day at the museum and immediately took a flight here. But, you guys weren't expected to recover so soon either...'

Malik grabbed Yugi's shoulder as Ishizu came and greeted them. 'We were surprised when we found out from our people at the museum, who told us the story. You, Bakura, and Kaiba came out from the underground level injured like you've been in a fight, and I think that girl Anzu was present...', said Malik as Ishizu gave him a stern look. Ryou sighed as he acknowledged him. '..yeah, it was a long story but I think this is not the...'

'..It's nice that you guys were here, at least I won't have to go far to find you two...'

'Huh?!', gasped both Malik and Ryou as they glanced towards Yugi, who had spoken. 'Wha... what do you mean...?', gasped Malik as Yugi pulled off his bag and took something out before shouldering the bag again. Ryou stared dumbfounded at him as Yugi walked up towards Ishizu and he handed the object in front of her. The girl gasped as Yugi revealed the object in his hand. 'I'll return this to you... now.', said Yugi as Ishizu looked at him in surprise. '_Sen..sennen _tauk? Yugi... I can't have this.. I told you before...'

Yugi smirked at her as he placed the tauk on her hands. 'This tauk had already belonged to your past self, Isis. It's reasonable enough for me to give this back to you now... since I had no more intention to keep it any longer...'

'But.. but Yugi...'

'Bakura had kept the Ring... though it originally belonged to Mahado, he can't keep it since his soul still dwells in my heart. So Bakura's the keeper of the Ring now. For the rod, I gave it to Seto... and I think you knew the reason already...', said Yugi as Ishizu nodded in comprehension. '...Shadi kept his _sennen _key and Karim's scale. That leaves me with the puzzle and the eye...', Yugi paused as he thought of the treacherous Akunadin and how his role had started the long chains of tragedy. He thought also of Pegasus and how the eye probably changed him... to have the evil personality as the hateful priest. 'The eye. If only I could destroy it... then nobody could ever again try to open the door to the Shadow Realms by collecting all the items...'

Yugi sighed again. 'Anyway... all that has no meaning any more. Right now, I just wanted to leave everything behind me. To forget about everything... of Akunadin, Zork and every other else. It's better this way...'

Malik's eyes widen as he heard this revelation. '..Yugi. You've changed somewhat...'

Yugi smirked. 'I'm no more the little Yugi that you've met before. Nor I was the spirit pharaoh that you've placed hatred too. Who I am right now... was perhaps the young pharaoh who had sacrificed his own life and soul to seal his most dangerous enemy and to protect his people. Or whatever I am right now... The main thing is, I'm not the same pharaoh that you first tried to kill...'

Both Ishizu and Malik were at lost for words as Kaiba, Bakura and Rishido kept silent. Yugi suddenly pulled off the serious tone and smiled at everyone. 'Come on!! You guys didn't come here just to have a talk with me at the pavements, isn't it? Let's get to the car and go home. Then perhaps we can chat more about what happened these few days...'

Seto grinned as he patted Yugi's back roughly. Yugi stumbled as the extra force made him lose his balance. 'You made me worry, Yugi-kun. Don't ever do that again...!', said Seto as all of them headed towards the KaibaCorp limo. Yugi grinned back at him. 'Since when we've become so close? I could still remember the times when you always tried finding ways to overcome me... I'd never imagine that you'd _ worry_ about me...'

'Don't tease me... this was not the first time. I _did_ sincerely worry about you when you almost give up trying to fight Osiris that time at the Battle City...', said Seto as he absentmindedly scratched his head. A tinge of red was slightly visible on his cheek, a fact that was noticed by Ryou and Malik. Both snickered at the realization.

'Oh... _really?_', taunted Yugi as all of them eventually entered the car. '..This was news to me...'

'Hoho... yeah, _very funny of you...._'

--

'So this is it... see you guys next time!!', said Yugi as he got out of the car. He started to walk towards his house as Kaiba and Ishizu got out also. 'Yugi...', said Kaiba as Ishizu cut him off. Yugi stopped in his tracks. 'What..?', drawled Yugi as Ishizu stepped nearer. 'I understood now on why you've taken this decision on yourself. Finding out about the real identity of yourself and the pharaoh's must have really shattered your faith. But you must not lose the fight inside yourself!!'

Yugi turned around to face her as he gave her a questioning look. 'Then what do you think I should do...?' The Egyptian girl smiled. 'Find out more about your true self and destiny, your real reason to exist in this world! And I wanted to tell you something... A few days ago, an archeologist had come to me to ask about the two stone tablets. He was mildly interested to make a research on it...'

Yugi sighed as he resumed walking home. 'I don't care... Let that guy make research on it for all I care!! I don't want anything to do with it anymore...'

'But do you know something else, Yugi? That person had other things of interest too. Not so long ago, that man had encountered another tomb at the Valley of the Kings. The tomb had belonged to... as it was found out, to the Pharaoh Akunumkanon and he related this findings with the tablets!!!'

Yugi froze in his steps as he felt a sharp pain in his heart at the mentioning of the name. '_...chichi-ue?_', whispered Yugi spontaneously before he recollected himself. '..I...I, I don't know what you were talking about!! Goodbye!', cried Yugi as he ran towards his house, leaving the others behind. Ishizu sighed as she went back inside the car. Seto remained outside awhile before he too entered the car.

'He'll be fine after some thinking over... So now, let's send you guys home. It's my treat...', said Kaiba as he ordered his driver to continue driving...

--

Yugi quickly shut the door behind him as he entered the living room. He sighed heavily. 'Pharaoh Akunumkanon...', he sighed as he placed a hand over his chest. _Even though he was my father in my past life, I still felt the attachment towards him as if he is still my father now. Like that time when my half entered the memory world... Oh, Ra... what was I supposed to do now..?_

'Oh... Yugi? You're home already? Why didn't you called me? I could have gone to fetch you if I knew that you're getting out of hospital today!!', chirped Yugi's grandpa as he was getting ready towards the kitchen. Yugi suddenly changed his sombre mood to a cheerful one as he followed his grandfather to the kitchen. 'You don't have to worry, _jii-chan_. Kaiba-kun was kind enough to give me a lift and I don't want to trouble you so early...', chirped Yugi intentionally as the older Mutou poured some tea over two cups.

'That boy had certainly changed, isn't it? Not like the arrogant kid that tore up my Blue Eyes White Dragon card...', mused the older Mutou as Yugi sighed too. '_Haii_... he had changed a lot more like his old self. Back before the time Gouzaburo Kaiba adopted the brothers...'

Sugoroku gazed at his grandson in anticipation as he noticed Yugi had started to act a lot more matured. 'Oh... just this morning I got a call from your mum...' Yugi's eyes lighted up at the mention of his mum. 'What did she said? Is she coming home...?', asked the lad as the elderly nodded. 'She'll be arriving home this evening with an old _friend..._ she was worried when I told her about what had happened to you... But now I think she'll be glad to know that you were fine. Plus, she now will get to show her handsome son to her old _friend_...'

Yugi flushed red at the compliment. True, since these two years... Yugi had grown taller and had already started to have the same features as his other half; except the eye. Now that his soul had become one, it didn't make any difference anymore. His eye color changed from violet to red according to his mood. And right now, his eyes were a mix of both colors and were very wide. '_Jii-chan_...! I'm not _ that _ handsome!!', cried Yugi in retaliation. (And my, would you like to object on this?)

The older man chuckled at this outburst. 'And I hoped you liked that man..., Yugi...'

'Huh..?!', gasped Yugi in surprise at his grandfather...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Okay... hehehe... another cliffie!!! I did this chappie by five hours only. Funny to think that I could write this quick when I was at the foul mood. And now it's official... I HATE TERMITES!!! LET'S WAGE WAR TO THE COLONY OF THEM TO THE END OF TIME!! Thanks you guys for everything... I'll expect feedbacks from you guys!! Jaa mata!!

A/N: Fixed the glitch... happy reading... and I've got myself a Yugi OST CD II! Not to mention DVD part 1 to 4... Season 5 would still be long awaiting, but I'm prepared. Am now on the process of creating my very own sennen ring and puzzle and rod. But no-no... NO sennen eye!! Maybe when done, I'll do a Bakura cosplay!!


	12. Chapter 12: Family ties and friendship

az: Hehe.... my sennen items are almost done... Now what's left is making the other ring of the sennen ring, some ropes long enuff to tie the things... golden paint... and white hairdye!! Muahahhahahaha.... then I become Bakura's clone!!!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'll be the proud owner of the Battle Ship and KaibaLand... NOT!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 12: Family ties and friendship...

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

_'My prince, don't be afraid... it's just a coronation ceremony...'_

_ 'But Shimon-chan, I don't want to go... there's so many people...'_

_ 'The Pharaoh and me will also be there, child. This is only a ceremony to introduce you to the people as the future Pharaoh! It's nothing to be afraid of!!'_

_ 'No...! I won't go!! You can't make me!! I refuse to follow your instruction!!', cried the 10-year-old Egyptian prince as Shimon Muran tried to force him to wear his formal attire. 'You have no choice!! This is an important duty for you as the crown prince! Be obedient!!', said Shimon as he tried to force the young prince to wear his ceremonial bracelet. 'It's painful!! You're hurting my hand!! Let go!!'_

_ 'This is what you get for being so difficult!'_

_ 'Let me go!! Let me go...!!!'_

_ 'Yugi... don't be like this! Don't be difficult...'_

_ 'No... Shimon-chan!!!'_

_--_

Sugoroku Mutou let out a gasp as he tried to subdue his sleeping grandchild. _Shimon? It was long since I heard this name..._, he thought as he tried to wake Yugi up. 'Angel.... Yugi!! Wake up now... you're a big kid...'

Yugi still fought him as he strangely managed to lift the child into a sitting position. Yugi continued fighting his grasp as the elderly shook him vigorously. 'Yugi... come on!! I'm not as strong as I used to be. And you had grown a lot...' The old man shook Yugi's body again as Yugi started to regain consciousness. Yugi opened his tear-filled eyes to find his grandfather holding him tight. The young lad gasped. '_Jii-chan_!! What the...'

'You were having a nightmare. When I got upstairs to fetch you, you were tossing and turning like you were fighting something... And then, you fought me instead...'

Yugi chuckled as he hugged his grandfather in return to the surprise of the latter. 'No... not a nightmare. Just an utter stupidity.'

'If so, why were you crying? And let me go... your mum and her guest are waiting downstairs...', said grandpa as Yugi's hold on him tightened. 'It's nothing, but I just wanted to be close to you..._jii-chan._'

Grandpa Mutou ruffled Yugi's hair affectionately. 'Something wrong, Yugi? Your friends didn't tell me about what that had happened before, when you went missing from your ward. Do you have a problem about something? Can you tell me...?', asked him as Yugi slowly shook his head. The old man sighed. 'I've taken care of you ever since you were very little. I could always tell when you had problems. So... tell me, please... my child...'

'_Jii-chan..._ why did you have to take out the golden box containing the _sennen _puzzle pieces? It should have been better that you didn't. It should have been better that I have never become your grandson...' Sugoroku frowned as he pulled his grandson aback. 'What... Yugi? Did anything happened between you and the pharaoh's spirit?'

Yugi shook his head again. 'Anything... as in a quarrel? How could that be? If there's no pharaoh to fight with?', said Yugi blandly as the old man looked at him in disbelief.

'Yugi? What do you mean? Does the spirit of the pharaoh gone already? And why did you said something like that? You were my most beloved grandson!!', exclaimed the old man. Yugi's voice shook as he fought the tears welling inside of him. 'He's not gone... but he's not really present. But, it was no different. I don't want to cause anyone trouble anymore. If I should be sent to the Shadow realms... I won't even mind...'

'Don't say anything stupid!! I don't know what was the reason for you to talk like this, but I want you to snap out of this. Everyone loves you, Yugi... even if any of us got into trouble because of you, we will always loved you. So as a grandfather, I want you to stop acting like this!!' Yugi's eyes widen as Sugoroku pulled him into standing position. 'Come... your mum was waiting for you...'

'_Jii-chan!!_ I don't feel like I wanna meet anyone!!', cried Yugi in vain as Grandpa dragged him out of his room. 'You have no choice about this!! It's time now... it's time for you to meet your father!!'

'Father..?!', gasped Yugi in horror. 'I don't... I don't have a father...'

Sugoroku gazed at Yugi with sorrow. 'Yes, you do... It's a hard decision for everyone but now you have to face it...', said the old man as he dragged the frightened lad down to meet his long-separated father...

--

--Yugi--

Jii-chan pulled me out forcibly as I stumbled over the stairs on the way down. Regardless of what I had felt a long time ago during the _kioku no sekai_ incident about wanting to know my father, I don't want to face it now. Not of the late pharaoh Akunumkahon nor my father in this lifetime!! I don't know why... but I had this strange feeling. A feeling that I can't describe!! Something... I don't know, something is bothering my heart about this. I don't know...

'Jii-chan... please slow down. You're hurting my hand!!', I cried as my grandfather stopped and looked at me with concern. Grandfather muttered some apologies as he massaged my arm. 'I'm sorry, dear... but why were you so afraid to meet your father? You've always said that you wanted to know your father before. Why afraid now?', said grandpa as I shook my head.

I don't know!! This dread... I don't know why I felt it!!

Grandpa dragged me again towards the living room. Aah, I could hear mum's voice!! And another... though I felt like I've heard this voice before...

--

Back inside Yugi's bedroom, the millennium mark on the _sennen _puzzle started to glow mysteriously...

--

Mutou Akira and his wife smiled as Sugoroku brought Yugi out to face them. Iria rushed towards Yugi as she hugged him affectionately. 'How are you, dear? I missed you so much... and you always looked cuter every time I see you...'

'I'm fine, mum...', said Yugi as he tried to wave away the concern towards him. As he did that, the woman noticed the cast on Yugi's right wrist. She lifted the said arm as glanced towards her only child. 'What happened...? How did you hurt your arm?', asked the woman as Yugi averted her gaze.

'It's nothing...', said Yugi as Akira walked towards him. 'Let me see his arm...', said the man as he tried to hold Yugi's arm. Yugi flinched as he pulled away from his reach. Iria looked at him in surprise. 'What... Yugi? Is something wrong?', she asked as Sugoroku whispered slowly, '..There's nothing to be afraid of. It's your father, not anyone else...'

'Don't be afraid... my son...', said Akira as he gently held Yugi's hand. Yugi's eyes widen suddenly...

--

--Yugi--

_Don't come near me... don't do anything!!_, I thought vainly as my dad grew near to me. That fear of something unknown to me grew stronger as he walked nearer to me. Mum and grandpa seemed to move their lips, but I can't hear what they were saying! Then I felt his hand touching mine!!

_/Chichi-ue... chichi-ue! What's with this so many people down there?/_

_ /They are our people... my young prince. Soon, they will serve under you when you take over my place.../_

My eyes widened in shock. What was this voices I hear? This old feeling... what is happening?

'Yugi... can you hear me? It's your mum!! Don't scare me like this!!'

_/Chichi-ue!!! Don't die!! Don't leave me!!/_

_ /It's no use, my lord!! The pharaoh is dead... You must now take his place.../_

Go away!! I don't want to hear it!! These voices and this feeling... I don't want to hear it!!

'Yugi!? Snap out of this...!!'

I.... can't!! Please... leave me alone...

--

Akira fought to hold Yugi upright as the lad seemed to lose control of himself. Unbeknownst to everyone; upstairs at Yugi's bedroom, a strange golden light filled the space as the _sennen _puzzle glowed brightly. And as suddenly as it had been, the light vanished as a cry could be heard downstairs.

'Yugi? YUGI...?! Dad... call the doctor!!', cried a stern male voice followed by the sound of people running around. Few minutes later, Akira and his wife emerged from the stairs as the former carried an unconscious lad that was his son, Yugi. The pair entered Yugi's bedroom and the man gently placed the lad on the bed. Yugi's mum caressed Yugi's face lovingly as she glanced towards her husband.

'Aki..? Do you think that we were too hard on him? This must have been a shock to him to meet you like this... But I haven't expected that Yugi would respond like this...'

The man shook his head as he placed his arm around her. 'It's not your fault...', he said as he looked towards his son. _You felt me... isn't it, my son?,_ thought the man suddenly as he comforted his wife. _You recognized my presence... does this mean what I thought it is? _

Akira looked around the room as he noticed Yugi's school bag on the desk. A glint of gold could be seen from the inside of the bag. The man smirked.

_Is that...?,_ he thought suddenly.

_--_

Seto put down his fork as he ceased from eating. Mokuba glanced at him in surprise. '_Doshite.. nii-sama? Daijoubu desu ka..._', asked the young boy as the elder Kaiba rose from his chair. '..Nothing. Just a feeling...', said Seto as he picked up his plates to the kitchen. Mokuba followed suit.

'_Nii-sama_... did you still worry for Yugi? Why don't you go to visit him?', said Mokuba as Seto gave him a look. 'You won't mind it? And why were you so eager to send me away..? Are you up to something?'

Mokuba gave his brother a very innocent look. 'Ooo... it's nothing!! But then, after that... you can also visit Jyounouchi's place...', sang Mokuba as a vein popped on Seto's forehead. 'Why... why should I want to visit _him?_ We're NOT that close... despite what happened recently..!', cried the lad as Mokuba smirked.

'His _sister_ might come to visit...', drawled the boy as he enjoyed watching the paled look of his brother. Seto's face flushed as he let his _otouto _played him. 'I...I.. I...', stuttered Seto as Mokuba giggled again. 'You what?', said Mokuba as he grinned. 'You liked her, isn't it? Shizuka-san... I think her name is. I remembered last time when Yugi and the others came to see you regarding Bakura-san during the Battle Ship event... and that sis said something to convince you to help and you just _stare at her_...'

Seto's face grew beet red as he tried to _strangle_ Mokuba at the living room. 'You... rascal!! How dare you make fun of me...', drawled Kaiba as he tried to make a mincemeat over Mokuba's head. Mokuba's cry grew louder. 'You liked her! You liked her!! My bro fell in love---', sang Mokuba again as Seto gave up. He darted towards the door as he put on his jacket. '..You're being silly... Okay, I'm going!! And I'm gonna leave you alone here until tomorrow!! See if you can think it is funny anymore...', fumed Seto as he slammed the door shut after him.

Mokuba grinned as he watched his brother leave...

[TBC]

* * *

az: I changed Jou's sp again... but am too lazy rite now to fix the others. Yeah... since I lost all my data (thanks to the stoopid retailer who reformat the drive b4 copying the data before that...) I had no mood to edit the chapters. And I reposted some of my fics on Mediaminers. I'll be posting some of my YGO fanarts there too if only I can reinstall the scanner. I mean... I had a copy b4... but you know.. The address at Mediaminers are : ht tp:ww w.mediamin fo.php/826 24

So visit there if you want to if you're bored with FF.net. But I only had the chapters up until 8. and the recent ones are here... so make ur choice. Haii.... no reviews from there yet... why?

az: How do you like this chapter? I've always wanted to play Kaiba's feelings... and I noticed. Shizuka did looked like Kisara isn't it? Hehe... I seemed to find a lot of the ppl from the AE timeline and bring them out here. Love the irony...

So what do you think about Yugi's father? There's some secrets hidden in the future but I think I _did _gave a foreshadow b4... Had anyone realized?


	13. Chapter 13: Of hidden memories and deepe...

az: Hmm.... where are the reviews? I can't see them!! My... my... you guys are slacking off!! Well, my supply of good will to continue to write is diminishing.... so help!! It's hard to make a lively scene if there's nothing to liven things up. But since this chappie gonna be a dark one, I don't mind... though if you want to be my inspiration for evil thoughts, be my guest. REVIEW!!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'd be making a fantasyland on Shadow Realms!! Huahahahahha!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 13: Of hidden memories and deepest fears...

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

'...Shimon-chan?', whispered Sugoroku by himself as he thought about the last time that he had heard that name uttered before him...

_--Flashback (Sugoroku's POV)--_

_ I was clinging to dear life as nothing was supporting me other than the deep void. I'm going to die..., I thought as I watched the Egyptian man walked past me. But what's this? He was crying for help!! I can't see anything... but then the voice faded..._

_ This is the end for me. I'm going to die here. An irony for an archeologist like me..._

_ /Shimon... here.../_

_ I looked up towards this new voice coming from above me. A strange looking boy was holding out his hand towards me. But what struck me is that this boy was wearing the attire of the ancient Egyptian royalty!_

_ /Shimon... I was waiting for you for so long..../_

_ I stretched out my hand towards the boy as he pulled me out...._

_--End of flashback--_

'..And to think about it, Yugi _did _looked like the boy or the young pharaoh. Why...?', mused the old man as he sauntered downstairs...

--

Kaiba's hand froze several centimeters from ringing the door as he stood still in front of Kame Game Shop. He sighed as he hesitated to leave. 'Man... I wanted to enter but I don't want _him _to think that I worried too much. Pish.... what should I do...', whispered Kaiba to himself as he circled around in front of the yard. But suddenly the door opened, revealing the old Mutou inside and to Seto's great surprise. The latter practically jumped several feet in shock.

'Uh... ehehe, _jii-san_... I just wanted to...'

'You wanted to check on Yugi, is it?..', said the old man almost tiredly. 'Very well... it's not like I can do anything to help you... Come in...', said grandpa again as Seto followed him. But the young CEO could still sense that something was wrong. 'Anything happened to Yugi? You seemed so distraught...', said Seto as the old man showed him towards the stairs. 'Yugi was upstairs in his room. You go there while I'll be down here with his mom...'

Seto frowned as he wondered what was the matter with the old guy as he went up...

--

Seto peered his head inside to find Yugi lying on the bed, face paled for some reason. 'Yugi..?', gasped Seto as he walked to his bedside. 'Yugi? Oi... wake up!! What's wrong with you.... stupid!!', said Seto again, still not noticing the presence of another man inside the room, who had been observing the whole scene at the edge of the room. Soon after, the man gave a smirk and came out from the shadows to approach the newcomer.

'You must be Seto Kaiba.... was it?', said the man as Seto jumped at the sudden intrusion. Seto turned around to face the stocky middle-aged man as he frowned at him. 'Yes... and you are...?', said Kaiba defensively as he glared at the man. _How could I haven't noticed him before? Who is this...and why did I felt his presence so familiar?_

The man laughed to ease the tension that had been building up. 'I'm sorry... I forgot to introduce myself. I am Akira Mutou, and I am Yugi's father.... back from Egypt. Nice to meet you... young _Seto..._', said Akira as he shoved a hand towards the young CEO. _And I'm also someone that you once knew... can you feel it?_, thought him wickedly as Kaiba accepted the handshake. 'Yugi's.... father? How... what... and how do you know my name?', gasped Seto as the man smiled apologetically.

Akira placed something on Seto's hand as he stared towards him. 'Did I startled you? Don't be afraid. So, I'll leave you two here, okay? Take care of Yugi while I go downstairs. And if you can _talk to Yugi_... please tell him that I'm not here to hurt him....' With that the man leave, with Seto still remained confused as he is. He looked down on his hand and realized that he was holding the _sennen_ puzzle.

'What the...?', he gasped as he noticed that the _sennen_ mark had been glowing dimly. _Could Yugi be....,_ thought Seto suddenly as he took out his _sennen _rod. But then he looked back towards the door, where Yugi's father had went to.

_How did the guy know about this...? And his words just now..._, thought Seto suspiciously as he cried a curse word under his breath. 'So, here goes nothing...', hissed him as he summoned the rod's power to enter Yugi's heart. Immediately as he did, his body went limb as he lost consciousness...

'Just like I thought he would do...', suddenly a voice was heard as the person reentered the room. He placed a shawl over Seto as he adjusted the lad's sitting position to make it more comfortable. 'It makes me glad to know that the bonds between you two was still not severed...', said Akira again as he walked out from the room.

'...my dear Atemu and Seto....'

--

Kaiba opened his eyes to find himself inside a vast labyrinth, full of doors. 'This.... is Yugi's soul room?', cried Seto in surprise as another voice greeted him. 'Yeah... it is but still a lot different than before. Before this, he had two soul rooms. One just a normal one that reflected Yugi's childish innocence and sincerity and another, was sort of a maze-like tomb. That was his _yami's _room...But this, it has turned into one that symbolized both of the old personality. And I sensed a great confusion in him as the mazes here grew to be more twisted than before...'

Seto turned around to find two mages looking up to him. 'Mahado... Mana... do you know where..', he gasped as Mahado shook his head. Mana walked up to him. 'We've searched around and can't find him anywhere... He must have been hiding inside one of his memories...'

'But... how could this have happened...?', said Seto again as Mahado replied. 'I think he was just afraid... The puzzle sensed his fear and pulled him here where he could escape. And since this _world_ was indeed his soul room, he can do all that he wants to prevent anyone to find him. We tried to open the doors to some of his memories but can't since they were locked...'

'But why...', said Seto again as he remembered Akira's last words. 'That man... I should have known!! Yugi must have sensed it to... Mahado, Mana... let's find him again! And this time, I won't be easy...', drawled the lad as the trio searched around for Yugi in this dizzying labyrinth of his soul....

[TBC]

* * *

az: Looked up again... it's short, but I think I'll continue in the next chapter.

az: ;P….. I'm giggling and I dunno how to say this… Perhaps this week is my lucky week among all my lucky weeks…. I got new reviews from here as well as in Mediaminers… I'm flattered… u know… I usually had an inferiority complex in my life whether at school, home or even at the net… it's really a boost when ppl do say that I had a good point… somewhere… so, Yim, KrystalStarLite, Yami Dragooness….. mina-san… arigato gozaimasu!!! I think I could still survive….

Yugi: Oh.. uh… she's sobbing, she's sobbing….

az: No I'm not, Yugi!!

Yami: Yes you are…

Az: Hey, I thought you already become one, ne….

Yami: Yup… but I'm being naughty….

Seto: See… what did I told you? ppl still luv u…

az: ;p


	14. Chapter 14: Secrets and realizations ins...

az: Okay... thanks for still supporting me... ideas kept smashing my face... I dunno how I can keep up. Even during classes, I kept thinking about the fics. And having a strange lecturer doesn't help. (Yeah, ppl can't barely understand what is it that he's talking about and laughed at his jokes that I don't even understand...) Anyway.... I'll keep on writing... till the end!!!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'd be Kaiba's evil twin sister and my youngest sis would be Mokuba's clone...!! Huahahahahha!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi. And pardon me... I can't remember all the dialogues straight. So some scenes might be new....

* * *

Chapter 14: Secrets and realizations inside of memories...

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani

'Yugi....!!', shouted Seto as he approached another door. 'Where are you... damn it!!!', he shouted again as he fought to open the door in front of him. 'Stupid Yugi... stupid door!!', he said again as he kicked the door open. Lights shone over him as he blinked but then a scene of the past opened in front of him as he gasped in surprise.

'Take that!! Celtic guardian... attack!!', shouted Yami as Celtic Guardian dashed towards the paralyzed Ultimate Dragon. Anzu rushed immediately to try and stopped Yugi from attacking. Seto, who was watching the scene replaying in front of him was taken aback. 'This.... what's this?', he gasped as he heard Anzu shouting for Yugi to return to his original self. He stood dumbfounded as he watched Yami's eyes widen after hearing the statement.

But apart from seeing the events as he had seen it before, he saw something else. As the Celtic Guardian running towards Ultimate Dragon, Yugi's _sennen _item glowed to reveal the smaller Yugi. Yugi was holding his other half back!!

'Please stop it, _mou hitori no boku!! _', cried Yugi as Yami stared at him in surprise. 'But _aibou_!! We've got to win!! Grandpa...'

'I DON'T WANT KAIBA TO DIE!!!!', cried Yugi as his other self hesitantly retreated into the puzzle as he couldn't stand seeing Yugi's anguished face. With that, Yugi collapsed to the ground.

'I can't do it!! I almost killed Kaiba with my own hand...', sobbed Yugi as Seto took this time to close the door.

The door clicked with a loud noise as Seto leaned towards the closed door. '...I'm sorry, Yugi. Sorry that I've hurt you that time by doing what I did...', hissed Seto regretfully as footsteps approached him from behind. 'Did you find him...?'

'No... Instead, I saw something dreadful...', whispered the lad as he walked towards the mages. 'That door...', cried Mana as Mahado nodded sadly. 'That was one of the most dreadful memories that pharaoh still had and also one that he still can't get over...'

Seto urged them to go on as he was anxious to leave that place and to find Yugi...

--

'He put this up in the morning. I think the reason is... he hides his true self because of other people...'

Yugi turned his attention immediately towards the source of the voice and saw his other self sitting together with Anzu inside. He walked slowly beside his old self and hugged him from behind. Though, no reaction came from Yami as if nothing had happened. 'This memory... I still had this memory...', whispered Yugi to himself as he chuckled over the memory that he made his other half act so stupid when he suddenly switched themselves. 'Even then, you knew about this... isn't it? That I've always put a mask of cheerfulness around everyone....', he sighed again as he remained, standing behind his own memory self..

'Yugi was worried about you...', said the memory Anzu as Yugi smirked. 'Anzu... you always had something to say, isn't it? But I wondered... when you said this. What was your feeling actually when you said this in front of my other self?'

'He's worried about me? He can't even figure up who he liked...'

Yugi edged a distance away from his memory self as he pondered over the statement. 'You were wrong...', he hissed as he glanced towards Anzu. 'I had always known this, but that before realizing that the person she liked was you...'

Yami continued talking. 'Like me, his road would be difficult...', said Yami as Anzu gasped, '...His road?' Yugi watched this exchange with interest. 'Both of us doesn't know who we really are and what our futures lay...'

'What...!?', gasped Yugi in surprise as suddenly everything around him vanished in the blackness of the dark. Yugi's eyes widen as he saw that everything around him was emptiness...

'He knew... Even if he had not expected it to turn out like now. My other self knew that both of us were tied to something by fate...', gasped Yugi in horror as he crouched by himself inside of the eternal void...

--

A doorknob of one of the memory rooms inside Yugi's soul chamber turned as the said door opened with difficulty. Someone came out of it as he stumbled back, closing the door behind him as he sat on the floor. His breath catched as he tried to overcome the fear and dread he had felt before of ever not coming out of that room...

'I thought I had died already... If I had not found the door, I could be trapped here forever....', gasped Yugi as he struggled to get up.

'Yugi!!! Where ARE you!!?'

Yugi gasped as he heard the voice and some other, echoing around him. 'Seto...? What's he doing here? And to think again... why am I here at the first place? All I know that I had strange visions when dad took my arms and then the next moment, I'm here. Oh heck... Seto!!! I'm here!!', croaked Yugi as he shouted for Kaiba. But his strength was waning after trying to get out from one of his memory room just now, and he felt drained after the effort.

Kaiba's voice rang again from afar as Yugi dizzily walked towards the source of the voice. Suddenly, Yugi's foot stumbled over something and he fell crashing into another memory door. So there he laid still, unconscious as he is...

--

'...Yugi!!?', cried Seto as he arrived on one of the corridors. 'I thought I heard his voice coming from here not long ago..', he whispered softly to himself. He glanced around him and saw that one of the doors had opened a little. Puzzled, he entered the room with the hope of finding the whereabouts of Yugi...

--

'It's time for my game. _Ore no yami no GAME!!! _'

The loathsome teen gasped in surprise. '_Yami no GAME ka_!!? What the...?'

Yami ignored the teen as the _sennen_ mark flashed over his forehead. 'You had cheated the game by your greed!! Now, accept the dark punishment!!', cried Yami as he punished the lad for his evil attention. Yugi watched in awe as he wondered about this memory. And unexpectedly, Yami turned towards him.

'What...? You can see me?', gasped Yugi as he edged away from him. Yami knelt over him and held his hands. 'Yes..', he said as he nodded his head. 'You wondered about this memory?', he said again as Yugi nodded. 'This was one of my memories when I first come to being, ever since you solved the puzzle. The ones that you can't remember. It happened that whenever you feel hurt, sad or angry, I will take over and punish those people that had to do with it. Because at the same time, I too was deeply hurt or angry to find you often being bullied. Are you mad... to finally find out about this?'

Yugi shook his head and hugged his other self. 'No. But I'm glad to have seen you again... after all that happen.'

'But I'm not really here. I'm just a memory of yourself. The real me... you already knew where he was...', said Yami as Yugi let go of him. 'I can't go on... unexpected things kept happening ever since that night at the museum. I'm not as strong as you to face this.' Yami shook him over as he forced Yugi to look at him. '_Aibou_... look at me! You ARE strong!! Remember your old self... and me! I'm part of you and that also mean that you are as strong as me. Have faith in yourself!!'

Yugi stared towards Yami's scarlet eyes as he saw images of his old self and the other. He looked away as he started to accept the fact. 'You once said to me and I to you that we will never want to be apart from each other. That we will always be together and now we are!!'

'But I don't want it like this... even if we are in fact the same person. It won't feel the same anymore!!', cried Yugi. 'That feeling will pass... we still had our friends with us. And our old cousin... Seto, so things _will _turn out right!! Of course certainly, you hadn't forget Shimon and our family?', Yugi nodded obediently at him as he continued, '...It'll be alright, _Atemu_... my true self! You won't need the _sennen _powers anymore to protect you from harm. You can finally be your true self now!!'

Yami frowned a bit as he noticed Yugi's surprise at his mentioning his name. He then smiled at him. 'Finally I could say that name, isn't it? It's because we're finally become one. The pharaoh's... no, your lost memories can finally be retrieved. But, you'll find it out soon... they're waiting for you...', said Yami as he began to fade. 'No...', cried Yugi suddenly as he tried to reach out to his other half. But to no avail as the image vanished soon after the last words were said...

--

Yugi opened his eyes to find himself lying on the floor, but not alone. He sat up as Seto gave him a brief hug. 'I thought you would never wake up!! I was so worried, when I carried you out of that memory room and you did not show any signs that you were alive!!'

'I'm sorry that I worried you so much...'

'Don't bother... Anyway, your father was not going to harm you or anything so why be afraid? If I were you, I'll be excited to know that my father is still alive...'

Yugi stared at Seto in surprise. 'You've met him? And you felt nothing strange about him?!', he gasped as Seto gave him an impossible look. 'I did... I felt some familiar aura about your father and that's it!! Still, I won't want to discuss it now. So can we get back to the reality?', cried Kaiba as Yugi gave an apologetic look at him. And it so happened that Mahado and Mana came, finally able to find the two of them.

In no time, both lads returned to the present and without the presence of Yugi's father around. Yugi opened his eyes as he and Seto got up from their resting place. Yugi grinned at him. 'Sorry I bothered you too much, especially these few days. But then, why did you come here at the first place?'

Seto sighed to himself before answering. 'I had a bit of a fight with Mokuba, just that. So I thought I'd hang with you...'

Yugi rolled his eyes at him in disbelief. 'Just that? That's unnatural. Something else must have happened... you don't come to me every time you clashed with Mokuba.'

Seto pinched Yugi's ears hard. 'Don't push it...', drawled Seto. 'This was sensitive issue!!'

Yugi giggled softly. 'Okay... okay!! You won... I give up! I won't ask what was the thing between you and Mokuba!!' And Seto smirked over him as he towered over this _bully-able_ friend of his...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Don't mind my silly words up there. Finally, this chapter was finished!! So don't pester me for the next!! At least, not yet! Review... and I might be able to update more next week... Bye!! 


	15. Chapter 15: Acceptance

az: Hmmm.... It's been long, huh? Missed me? Hehe.... and since no one was commenting if anything was amiss b4... I do it on my own...k? Finished my first year of Univ. Thought it'd never end... aaah....

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... there'll be a new dark lord and it's not Zork, Voldermort... or Sauron!! It's me..!! Huahahahahha!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi. And pardon me... I can't remember all the dialogues straight.

* * *

Chapter 15: Acceptance...

Written by Azzie/Az .. Alienna Azuani .. YamiAzzie

_'Mahado... before you sent us back to the real world... there's something I wanted to ask...'_

_ Mahado bowed over him and placed his hand on his chest. 'What is it... you want to know?', the mage asked as Yugi cleared his throats to ask. 'When I was almost lost in the memory realm... I saw my other self and he was talking to me...!! But... then, he said that he was not my other self and that person was me indeed... I don't understand... if it's true... how could... he talked...'_

_ Mahado smiled weakly as he placed his hand over Yugi's shoulder. 'Do you...', he paused before he spoke again, '...do you remember about the origins of the sennen items..? Of the dark sacrifice that had taken place...?'_

_ Yugi felt a painful jab on his heart as he remembered learning the truth of it. 'Y..yes. But what... what's that had anything to do..?'_

_ Yugi felt chilled as the thought passed him. 'When a part of you was sealed in this puzzle, that part of you was also sealed inside the darkness... Have you known about that?', said Mahado as Yugi nodded. '..When you first completed the puzzle, the other you was not fully awakened yet. He had emerged back from the dead... but his consciousness was not...' Yugi frowned at this as Mahado continued. '...At that time... some of those sacrificed souls had became the very consciousness of the sennen puzzle as did other items...'_

_ 'You mean... like that time when the rod showed some of my past's memories at the Battle Ship?', said Seto as he jumped on this new knowledge._

_ Mahado nodded. 'Yes, and that was also what gave life to both of your DM monster cards... But, master... about what've you said, that other self as you named it, was embodied by these souls. Now that the items were all on good hands... the souls were at peace and now willingly offers the service of power to those who wields the items. All... except one..'_

_ Yugi nodded in comprehension as he realized it too. 'The eye... It's the only one among all seven that turned its user to evil. I'm disregarding Bakura and Malik... since both of them had reasons that caused them to be evil...'_

_ Mahado agreed. 'That was because inside the eye, there's only one dark soul living inside it. Dark Akunadin, or any part of him there is... I supposed that when he gave his soul to gain the dark powers, his darkness grows along with his fiendish treachery through the eye... And.. uh, I think that was enough... was it? For your answers...?'_

_ Yugi grinned mischievously as he tugged on Seto to hide him. 'I guess it is...', he said as Mahado summoned his powers to send them home..._

_--_

'But, really... I never thought it will turn out like this...', said Kaiba as they both got downstairs, along with everyone. 'Then, how did you suppose it should be...?', countered Yugi as Kaiba made signs to shut him up. Yugi's mother looked up towards them as she motioned to the phone. 'Yugi... I'm glad you are fine now, but could you please answer the phone? Someone wanted to talk to you...', she said as Yugi grabbed the phone.

--

--

'Yeah... aah, it's me... No.. no, I'm fine... I was feeling ill just now. What... Kaiba-kun? Ah, wait Mokuba...', said Yugi as Kaiba in front him made acrobatic gestures to tell him not tell Mokuba that he was there. Yugi grinned as he said again, '...oh really? What did he do...? Oh, and what did you said...? Hahahaha...' Yugi glanced cheekily towards Kaiba made grunting noise at him. Yugi clutched his stomach as Kaiba started on his knees, 'Really...? Tell me about it...!!', he said as he laughed again.

--

Yugi snorted as he and Seto sat on the sofa, drinking some tea that Yugi's mother had served. 'Really..? Shizuka-san? You really LIKE her...!!? How unexpected...!', gasped the spiky-haired lad as he chuckled heartily. Seto glared at him with mixed feelings. 'Okay... okay!! I admit IT!! Just... don't go off and tell that do-- err, mediocre duelist that I liked his sister!! Please... Yugi!!'. plead Seto, blushing as Yugi grinned at him.

'I... don't know...', mused Yugi evilly as the doorbell rang. 'I get it!!', cried the lad as his grandfather was about to do it. Yugi opened the door and glanced at Seto mischievously. '...sorry, my fellow friend. It seemed even if I hadn't tell, he could still find your whereabouts!! Come in, Mokuba...', he said dramatically as Mokuba walked in.

'Nii-sama---!! Isn't it pretty childish of you to run off to Yugi? Not to mention that you _never_ done this before but Yugi has just got out of hospital!! Have you no shame... nii-sama?', exclaimed Mokuba as Yugi shut the door behind him. Seto glared at the little brother as Yugi and Mokuba joined him at the sofa. He made an annoyed face as he folded his arm. 'Ch... I was angry and Yugi and I had started to get close these days, so what? Thankfully I did come though...', he said as he gave Yugi a meaningful glance. But then, he slapped his forehead silly, '...##... and you even told him about _that.._!', sighed Seto as Mokuba looked pleased.

'I caught you because of that. Yugi was laughing too much and I had a feeling that you at least was here with him to make him sound a lot _more_ than amused. He was laughing at you!!', he said as Mokuba started to chanted the phrase of 'My brother had a crush'. Mokuba grinned as Seto's face started to flush red.

Yugi smiled as he watched the two siblings quarrelling. A thought suddenly crossed his mind as he noticed the change of attitude in Kaiba. The said person noticed this and immediately expressed his concerns...

'Yugi... what...?'

Yugi immediately looked up towards him as he smiled nervously. 'Aah... nothing!! I was just daydreaming...', he gasped as the other two gave him a wary look. Yugi bit his lips. 'Oh... okay. I was just... thinking...', said Yugi halfheartedly. Seto looked at him unblinking.

'...Seto, Mokuba. Until now, how long had we known each other? From the very first time we met each other until now, we have changed a lot. But then, you two had known me by my two different personalities. So now... what would happen between us? Are we to remain as friends still? And my other friends... will that stays the same too? Even as I speak right now... I could feel some part of me disappearing. Part of my memories... mostly of things from my childhood and another of my double selves... started to fade and overlapping with my old memories and maybe that will also vanish too. So what will become of me then?!!'

Seto was struck dumbfounded and tried to object but Yugi suddenly got up and out of the house. The two siblings stood as Seto motioned Mokuba to sit. 'I'll talk to Yugi alone. I don't know what hit him... but I'll do what I can. You stay here and wait for us, okay..?', he said as Mokuba nodded. Seto walked away to catch up with Yugi.

'Eh..? Where's Yugi and your brother... child?', said Iria as Mokuba smiled at her. 'My name is Mokuba. Err... they went out for a while. Hmm... I'll help you with the glasses, aunty...', gasped Mokuba as he picked up the glasses and put it on the tray for the elder woman to take away. Iria thanked the little boy as Sugoroku came to sit with him.

'Haa... they left you behind is it? Now, what did I hear about someone mentioning Jyounouchi's younger sister..?', said the old man as Mokuba grinned. 'I'll tell you, o-jii-san! It's about brother...'

--

'Yugi... what's wrong? Don't go around having some up down emotional instabilities and make everyone confused about you...', said Kaiba as he and the other perched themselves on the side of the railing, looking out towards the Domino port. Yugi let out a sigh.

'The memories of outward me remained as the memories of the inner me is fading. Whether it was the timid me or the other me... I could not recollect the memory when either of me had stayed inside the puzzle. Also when I tried to recollect again those times when I conversed with the other part of my soul, it now shows me that I was talking to myself and not another person... I'm answering my own question and contradicting my own self. It was like a second part of me had never existed... even as it did...'

Seto gave a shrug. 'What the hell with it... as long as the memories still exist, that was fine with me. And why did you question my being your friend? To me, you will always be the same Yugi and the same rival-friend that I grew to respect more. To hell those split personality-soul dilemma..!!'

'But I felt so empty now... It felt like I was no longer Mutou Yugi but the long asleep pharaoh, waking up to find that he was reborn again and was at lost...'

Hearing this, Seto smacked Yugi's head and dragged him back towards the Kame Game shop. 'You stupid... Go home and drown yourself!! You are alive and probably had a personality disorder right now but who cares? Just pick yourself up and start from scratch... no use of worrying for things inevitable. We already had pulled away from the Duel Monsters arena but we still are very good. That alone had shown our full potential and self worth! At least, most of the questions has been answered. You've got this problem now after all this time... certainly you won't give up?'

Yugi smiled. 'Thanks... I won't. Perhaps I've been wanting to hear something like that from you. But I guess... I would have trouble catching up with the others. Some of them don't really understood about the existence of the former me and other self. Some, even had different feelings revolving both of my old self...'

'Yugi... you shouldn't be--'

'..t's okay. I just needed to say this out aloud. I've been wondering if my life would ever be normal anymore...ah well, forget it. Seto... did you realized it? When I first met you, I know that I wanted to be friends with you... and look now!!'

Seto snickered. 'Aah, but then I wasn't at all nice, is it..? Sorry, since I've had treated you badly then...'

'Well, can't blame you... At that time, my other half was just been released from the dark realm. And with me constantly bullied, no wonder _he's_ cranky...'

'That's a point to be taken... But Yugi, it's been fun having to know you... both in the present and in the past. I can't have a better rival, friend or cousin than you...'

Yugi shrugged. 'Aside from the fact that I always beat you in Duel Monsters? Yeah... you're right. Jyounouchi was a good friend et al. but really, he's not a good person to talk to when I had these conflicts about the dark realms and all...'

Seto smiled as Yugi had started to cheer up. 'Feel better now?', he asked as Yugi nodded. '..that's good since we'd best be back at your place. Who knows what more of my secrets that Mokuba would tell back there...'

'I wondered about that...', said Yugi happily before revealing a very forlorn look. He clutched his heart suddenly in pain. 'Yugi..!! What's wrong..?', Yugi looked at Kaiba with sudden bout of fear.

'...suddenly, I felt a foreboding feeling. Just now, I thought I just saw a vision of the sennen items... 'The seven items are now returned to where they came from...'... these words came to mind. I felt that the flashes of memories are real... and that incident _had passed_. But Kaiba!! These days... all that happened... is this real? And the sennen items are still with us!! Kaiba...!! What's going on!!?'

Kaiba frowned as he felt something from the back of his mind but can't remember it. '..calm down, Yugi!! This... _cannot... be..._'

'You felt something strange too, hadn't you..?', asked Yugi as the other lad shook his head. 'No... there must be an explanation for this!! _This can't be a lie!!_...', whispered Kaiba to himself as if to try to make believe everything. Yugi grabbed Seto's arm to convince him.

'Seto!! I wanted to ask you... other than the events of the last few weeks and of several months ago, do you remembered anything else? Me right now, the last things that I could remember... was me entering my old memory world and trying to find the pharaoh's name. But after that... I couldn't remember...!! All these periods when I wondered about this, I always said to myself that I was still alive and had probably escaped safely back to the real world. And I had always had this thoughts that the lost memories was incomplete and that's why my other self was still existing till few days ago...'

'Yugi... I think we should discuss this later... You're tired...'

'Seto...!! Ryou's other self is still here... but if I had survived the duel in the memory world, he couldn't have--!!', Yugi's strength wavered as his stumbled on his steps. Kaiba caught him before hand. '... my mind are all jumbled up. As I tried to piece together everything one at a time... I felt that there is a large gap of emptiness in my memory... my head felt like breaking...', Yugi's voice shook as he knelt on the ground.

Kaiba looked at his friend with concern as he placed an arm around him. '...we'll try to find out about this later. I promise... we'll try to straighten everything up later. This event... this troubling feeling that I had started to feel by your startling words, we'll find out the truth. For I too had realized the gap of memory lost during those time. But now you are ill...! Stop thinking about this for a while. Your families and friends would worry if they saw you like this...'

Yugi sighed heavily as he could not shake away the foreboding feeling. 'I guess so...', he said as the two continued walking...

--

'Mokuba!! Let's go home...', said Seto as he and Yugi arrived. Mokuba, on the other hand was having a lively chat with Grandpa Sugoroku. The elderly turned aside to greet them. 'Hullo there, young 'uns!! Having a nice walk? Why didn't you two go to Jyounouchi's place?_..._' _You should tell him about your crush..._

'Going to---WHAT?!', exclaimed Seto as he turned to his brother. 'Mokuba---!'

The said boy merely grinned evilly at him. 'Gomen, nii-sama!! I told...', said Mokuba as Seto slapped his forehead. 'Oh no..!', he gasped as Yugi comforted him. ..

--

--

'It couldn't be helped... someone else will know sooner or later...', said Yugi eventually as both of them sweatdropped together. Seto nodded. 'Aah... yes, indeed. My otouto is an idiot..', he answered weakly as Mokuba smiled innocently. Seto glanced quickly towards Yugi as he saw that the lad had recovered his cheerfulness; with no signs of him still thinking about the troubling things they talked about earlier. The brunette sighed in relief.

'_...we'll be alright. I'm sure... Yugi..._', he whispered to him as he tightened his grip in Yugi's hand. Yugi smiled as he returned the gesture towards him...

[TBC]

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	16. Chapter 16: Unexpected confession

az: Now begin the second u-turn in the story... and I promised to not telling a lot of ED spoilers.... okay?

A/N by Az: And ehem... really, I've always wondered this, why is it when an author had finished his/her fic and a reader read it after that... why are those people NOT BOTHER to write a single review?!!! (Oh gawd!!! I'm about to be crazy....!!!) Really, you know... we authors (I say, ALL since we're NOT writing all those fics for money!) tend to have this craving about getting reviews... coz it gives us the satisfaction that someone out there who have read these fics is appreciating what we had wrote!! Or else we'll end up feeling maltreated and worthless... Hey, not only hikaris feel depressed, we too!! At least, to all those readers out there who read fics... please... PLEASE... give your reviews!! Even if it's bad. (Applies to all authors. Not just me.) This is not Mediaminers where even if you don't review, we'll know that someone read our fics... (Geesh... I sounded like Onizuka-sensei...)

Onizuka: [Special Appearance] Well,... hmm... hmm... you do have a point on that...

az: Well, I've tried brute force, bribe... everything!! Wanna me to beg? Already done that too...

Seto: "gasped" Az... for all of us... don't do that!! And special thanks to our devoted supporter, StarlitePhoenix... (Did I spelled this right?) I know that az once told you that those frequent reviews on the same chapters are like stalking... but actually... she really... REALLY... appreciated everything...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'll be joining the Pop idol contest... Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 16: Unexpected confession

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani YamiAzzie

Seto ruffled Yugi's hair for a minute. 'It's late... I think I should be dragging Mokuba back home now...', he said as Yugi snickered. Mokuba made a face. 'Nii-sama... it's not that late...!!', said the kid as Seto glowered at him. 'It IS....', he hissed as he dragged Mokuba off his chair. 'Thanks for the lovely lunch... aunty...', he said again as he smiled at Yugi's mother and grandfather. He caught a glance coming from Akira as he bowed at him nervously.

'We'll leave now...', said Seto politely as Yugi accompanied them. Akira merely looked at them...

--

'Well, take care...'

Yugi smiled as Mokuba jumped into the car. 'You too... And thanks, Seto-kun... for coming. I'm still having that terrible feeling again but I'll tell you later when I found out more...'

Seto smiled at him. 'You do that... and ask your father while you're at it. He's giving me shivers... that guy. I think he knew something... well, see you later!!', waved the lad as he drove away...

Yugi sighed as he went back to his house.

--

'Yugi... are you... fine with this?'

Yugi jumped on his toes as he closed the door opposite the living room. He turned towards his mum. 'What... mama, what are you talking about?', gasped Yugi as he realized that his grandpa and father had left the room. Iria pulled her son closer to her as she embraced him lightly. 'Your father... is it too hard on you, bringing him to meet you after all this time? I don't want to make you sad...', she said as she kissed his forehead.

'No... mama, I don't blame you...', said Yugi as he pulled away from his mum. 'I'm just afraid...', said Yugi as his mother looked at him in surprise. 'What were you afraid of, my dear? There's nothing--'

'I've always thought... that father don't want to see me. That he doesn't love--'

Iria immediately hugged him tight. 'It's not like that!! Papa loves you so much... it's just, things happened... we just can't avoid it..', gasped the woman as Yugi shook his head, pulling away. 'It's okay... mama!! I just received a shock, considering me just coming back from the hospital and all. I'll try getting along with him, I promise... mama!!', cried Yugi as he kissed her mum's cheek.

Yugi smiled at her reassuringly as he dashed towards the stairs.

--

--

Yugi sighed. _I've said so, but really... can I do it? Papa was giving me a bad feeling... and it's not just about the fact that he had only come to meet me now. I've had this dreadful feeling... that he came now not only to visit, but bringing a bad tiding. And about Ishizu-san's word telling me about the founding of the tomb, does this had to do with papa?_

Yugi hit himself against the door as he realized that he had arrived at his room. To his surprise when he entered the room is finding his father inside, carefully examining his own sennen puzzle; along with Seto's rod. He gasped as he realized that Seto had left the rod with him. Akira straightened up as he heard him and proceeded to look at him.

'Ah, Yugi... I've been looking over your puzzle. I hoped you don't mind...', said the older man as Yugi stuttered. 'No... no, I--', gasped Yugi as he kept a firm grip on the doorknob behind him. Akira walked closer. 'Yugi, there's something I've wanted to tell you... and it's important for you to know it. It's started as my fault to begin with, but I hoped I could make it right again for you...'

Yugi's legs shook with fear as he wondered about that. No words came out from him as his father loomed closer. Akira pulled Yugi closer in an embrace as Yugi's heart stopped for a second. 'I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that your life had turned haywire... I know that this was a little too late, but I hoped I can fixed it again...'

'What... are you talking about?...', gasped Yugi as he felt that there is more than regret of not being with him all this while, in his father's words. Yugi gasped as he tried to stretched his injured hand towards his father...

'Papa...?!'

--

Several days later...

Yugi entered his class silently as everyone hushed abruptly to looked at him. He blushed at the attention he received. 'Yugi.. You're back!!', exclaimed some of his friends as Yugi looked away to find Seto smiling at him. Jyounouchi came to his rescue as he pushed away some of the girls, who had just noticed that Yugi had grown a lot more handsome... ;P. (Well, he's still the world's No. 1 duelist!! Yugi: "lifted brows and blushed" No!!! It cannot be.... I'm blushing!! Don't lie, you idiot!!)

Jyounouchi winked at Yugi as he pulled him towards his own gang. 'It's fine with you, is it? I've told the guys a little bit on what had happened. And the others, about you gotten into hospital. I guessed they've exaggerated...'

Seto snickered at Jyounouchi. 'Funny, hearing that from you!! I thought you brain couldn't stomach such BIG words...', laughed Kaiba giddily as Yugi rounded his eyes on him. Jyounouchi fumed as Yugi smiled. 'It's okay... I'm a lot more better that I was before. And I guessed, I couldn't make more of my friends worry, can I?', chirped Yugi gratefully as Jyounouchi, Anzu and the others grinned.

'Well, that sums it...', said Honda as Yugi glanced at Seto secretly. He winked his eyes towards Bakura and mouthed 'Later..' as he gasped at Honda. 'Aah... yeah!! Hope we could finish this term nicely, Honda-san.. Otogi-san... minna...', he said, bowing politely as Honda, Otogi and the others looked at him sympathetically.

'Aii, yes...', said Honda, awkwardly as they took to their own seats. Kaiba managed to passed Yugi a slip of paper before he went to his desk. He received a wink from Ryou as he opened the slip of paper...

-----------------------------------------------------------

I've told Bakura. We'll meet after school. I guessed that you've found out something else about _that_, did you? I've called on Ishizu, yesterday. Summing up on all of this, we really have a LOT to talk about together!! Later then...

P/S: Isn't your acting a little bit too perfect for you? I'm impressed!! [Insert bad drawing of Kaiba making lousy faces at Yugi]

------------------------------------------------------------

Yugi looked up towards Kaiba as he made faces back at him. Seto grinned at him as both of them returned towards their own business. But then some of his female classmates popped out from the nearby desks as he placed his injured hand on the table. 'Aah!!! Yugi-chan... how did you injured yourself?!! Poor thing....!!', exclaimed the girls as Yugi blushed at being called Yugi-chan for no reason. And since when had he been so popular among them?! He had been growing taller and looking more like his former dark since he had reached his 17th birthday last year! Don't notice...?

_ Or maybe because that only last week that he had encounter any kind of 'near-death' experience that these people had started to realize that I was important in their lives?_, thought Yugi as he shook his head. _Nah... that cannot be... It's ridiculous!! But, considering Seto, Ryou and Otogi-kun had been with us in the same class... hmm..._

'You guys stay away from him!!', cried Anzu red-faced as Yugi looked at her, dumbstruck. '..he'd just came out of hospital and still so weak! Don't you guys go harassing him!!', she cried again as the girls backed off. 'Anzu....?', gasped Yugi as he heard a soft snickering not far from him. Yugi hissed as he threw some balls of scrap papers towards Kaiba, Ryou and Jyounouchi's directions...

--

Evening after school...

'Yugi... how about going to the gaming arena with us? It's been long since we've been there, eh?', said Jyounouchi as the gang and Yugi walked out of the school building. Yugi glanced towards his friends as he remembered his arrangements with Seto. He shook his head politely. 'No thanks, later then. I got to go home. My mum and dad had wanted me to come home early today...', said Yugi as Jyounouchi's face fell.

Honda was taken aback. 'What..?! Yugi... you've always w--', he stuttered as Anzu cut him off. 'Dad?! Yugi, when did--'

Yugi smiled as his friends stared at him in confusion. 'He came a few days ago, when I had returned from the hospital... I forgot to tell you guys.', explained Yugi as his friends gave him an amused look. 'But Yugi, you never told me you had a father...', said Otogi as Honda pushed him away. '...we had never met him before!! Yugi, are you trying to--'

'Yugi would never try to cheat us!! You bozo!!', snapped Jyounouchi as Yugi and Anzu tried to pull them apart. The shorter of them all smirked to himself at his friend's antics who were led to believe his lost of memories over his _accident. _'You guys...!!', he cried as the other four of them stopped bickering.

'It's okay... don't worry about me, okay? Maybe I've hit my head too hard but... it's not like I forgot that you guys are my friends...', said Yugi shakily as he tried to ease the tension between them. _At least, I won't have too feel too guilty at lying to you guys..._, thought Yugi as he said again, 'Can you guys, treat me like you guys normally do? I'll be troubled if you guys treated me like I'm a very fragile person...'

Jyounouchi sighed apologetically to him. 'Sorry... we'll do that.', he said briefly. Yugi heaved a sigh of relief. 'Ja, shitsurei shimasu...', said Yugi as he dashed away. Jyounouchi-tachi merely watched him go as they themselves walked away.

'He's still like that...', sighed Honda as Jyounouchi nodded. 'Yup, but I thought... Yugi had acted like the old him before... you know, when we become good friends...', said Jyounouchi later.

Otogi sighed. 'I guess that I can't comment on that... I hadn't knew him long enough...'

Anzu smiled at the three boys. 'It's okay... like Yugi said. He probably had to adjust himself to the new situation...', she said as the three lads shrugged. 'That's why...', the three chorused together...

--

Yugi's eyes lighted as he caught up with his two friends. 'Haii... Seto-kun, Ryou-kun... have you waited long?', he cried as the limo arrived at the side of the road. Kaiba shrugged. 'Not long... I've just called on Malik and Ishizu-san. They were on their way to my place right now...', he said as Ryou-kun nodded in acknowledgement.

'So let's go!! We should let our friends waiting...', said Ryou as Yugi suddenly saw some kind of shadow crept from behind the fences. The shadow seemed like some kind of Duel Monster...

'Eh... daijoubu ne, Yugi-kun?', said Ryou suddenly as the shadow vanished. Yugi shook his head. 'Nah... nothing. Let's go...', said Yugi as the three of them left with the car. Unseen by anyone, Jyounouchi crept out from the nearby building as Honda called out for him from the other side.

'Yeah!! I'm coming... found the pencil case!!', he cried back as he wondered about what had he seen just now...

[TBC]

* * *

az: I'm convinced that Shadi is a ghost!! Who want to bet? And anyway... I'll post this up first. I think this fic will last until 3 or 4 more chapters... Chapter 18 had already done despite the absence of chapter 17 and this one. I'll try to write it up first to see if I can compress the three weeks story in two chapters, if I can. Or else chapter 18 will become 19 and so forth... I hoped that you guys would still love this fic as I do...

Oh yeah... I need another chapter in between this one,,,

az: And anyway... I wondered what'll Yugi call his father... He called his mum... mama... I'll mix it around...


	17. Chapter 17: The Plan

az: You know... I hoped after this fic has finished or whichever of mine had done the same... You guys would still review!! I really hate it when I wrote something and don't get appreciated or whatever. In MMiners's the same... I see a lot of ppl coming to read... but review?! If I get one... I'll be very lucky. But man... it's annoying. I liked reviews.... TT... and I'm depressed when I don't get it after... finishing the fic or chapters. Do you guys want me to beg for reviews?!!

Kaiba: No... let the mutt do it...

Jyounouchi: Hei!! I'm not a dog!!! .... okay... please review.... TT

az: Onegai!!

A/N: To FF.net crew.... if ever you guys checked this, I'm writing this as an afternote!! Since you guys are so strict on not letting us post our notice on a new chapter... (at least we've updated.... duh!! And we've deleted the notes after that!!) How the hell we want to tell our readers when we could've been in a long hiatus?! Silly new rules.... I can't understand it now...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'll be joining the Pop idol contest...(Onizuka [---played by Takashi Sorimachi]: Really? Az: TT.... No!!!!! )

Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi ;p

* * *

Chapter 17: The Plan

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani YamiAzzie

Jyounouchi

_...Seto-kun, Ryou-kun... have you waited long?_

Yugi had addressed them so fondly. Like he hadn't lost any memories about these past years at all!! But... if so, why did Yugi have to lie about losing his memories to the rest of us? And why did he have to lie to us about his parents wanting him to go home early? Could he be... no, he wouldn't do that!! He wouldn't... to me... oh, please...

_... it's not like I forgot that you guys are my friends..._

No... it can't be true!! Yugi said that when all of us fussed about his condition. It's like... he's feeling... guilt...

'Jyounouchi!!'

--

[Normal PoV]

Jyounouchi looked up towards Anzu as she and the others stared at him. 'What--?! Are you still worried about Yugi? Relax... I'm sure he'll be fine..', said Otogi as a sudden flash of memory came back to Jyounouchi. He gasped.

'I... I thought I saw Yugi when I went back to class to get my pencil case.', he said as Anzu frowned. 'And what? Don't tell us that you're worried that he still hadn't returned home--'

'No. I think I saw him in pain... but then, he went back up again and continued walking--'

Honda shook his head as he managed to put things together. 'Jyounouchi.. Yugi was not the shortest of the shorty guy that you once bullied before anymore! Certainly, you worried too much...'

On hearing that, Jyounouchi relented as he hoped that he had read wrong about the scene that he had seen at school. And hoping... that the musing were never true...

--

Kaiba continued humming some kind of song under his breath as the small group of people started their discussion. Ishizu shook her head while letting Yugi finish his retelling about his father's revelations of the days before. 'I can't believe it!! But then... everything would fit in together. All the mysteries could be solved!!', exclaimed Ishizu as Yugi, Ryou and Malik looked at her in expectance. Yugi saw Kaiba still humming to himself as he hit the lad with his bag. Kaiba growled harshly at him as Yugi scowled back.

'You're not paying attention!!--', he cried as he turned away towards Malik's sister. 'Ishizu-san... what do you mean about the mysteries being solved?'

'Yeah, sister... what do you mean?', beamed Malik as his sister took out some papers and placed in on the table. 'This was all the records that I have about some incidence regarding the sennen items from two years ago. I've told my assistance to keep these information on where or who had kept the sennen items. From the origins of the items to the unknown history of the nameless pharaoh, I've kept everything...'

Malik was shocked to hear about this. He never knew that his sister had done any such records. 'But... ne-chan, why---?'

Ishizu took out several sheets of the notes before giving to the others t read. 'Well, we don't want _that_ history be forgotten again, do we? And here...', she said as she held the papers, '..includes also the reports on Do-ma's last plot and how you guys had cracked the case, until also to the final one---' Ishizu pulled out another set of papers. '--where I wrote by myself on the day that Yugi would come to Egypt to complete his destiny...'

Yugi's face paled as he knew what it is. _So, the pieces really fit in together!!_, thought Yugi bitterly. _The strange feeling of unreality... the return of the items and the dark presences... the gap of blank memories in between... father's unexpected accident... Yes, this is the real reality. I could remember it perfectly now... Two years ago, we had gone to Egypt for the final duel. The ceremonial ritual between me and the pharaoh to determine his fate to remain in this world or not. And I won... for I was his future and him, my past. That place where the door; or the Eye of Wedjat as it was called, laid had crumbled and the items fall into the abyss after the duel had achieved its resolution. And we got out of it before the whole place were under ruins..._

'Yugi--- what's wrong?'

Yugi looked up as he saw Ishizu and the others eyeing him with worry. 'Uh.. I'm okay!! Just... feeling overwhelmed that everything fitted together. All the things that I couldn't explain to myself before... made sense now.', said Yugi as he smirked at them.

'You know, the day after Seto left my house with Mokuba, I had been thinking a lot. Not only about my sudden hunch about my suspicions about this whole adventure and also, of what my father had encountered and did; I suddenly remembered that I had once gone to Egypt. I've asked Grandpa about this, but he did not remember that he ever took me there. I **know** that this memory was real so I came to the conclusion that this incident where all of us that had a connection with the sennen items to forget about the events two years ago, was caused by one thing. It was the sennen powers...'

Seto was not impressed by this long speech as the others looked as if they were considering this fact. 'Yugi... you're talking bull---'

'Then explain to me now on why you **finally** believed in the supernaturals?! Before, you never believed it... even after what Pegasus had done to you and Mokuba-- you saw the duel and you said nothing since...', snapped Yugi as Seto was silenced. Yugi breathed in some air as he calmed himself down. 'I think... when father had started the spell that pulled back the items from the darkness, the items flew towards the designated owner... me. Well, except for the last two... and the ring. And how do you think Heishin could--'

'--come show himself in this time? Nah... I dunno. But as always, you're one to be so serious about everything...', blurted Kaiba as he grabbed Yugi's head like a doll and wrestled it. Then, Ryou started thinking more from the theory.

'Everyone... I think Yugi had a point. The sennen powers must have been involved. Because when we started talking about this, I remembered that even after everything... my other self wouldn't try to become a nice person! I think maybe, that when the items returned to Yugi, me and Shadi... it responded to our wish and created this illusions about our _Yamis_ in existence again...', said Ryou as he heard some objections coming from his darker self...

'I... are you sure about this? Ryou-kun... this is not like the fantasy-reality video games that you often played!!', cried Malik as Ryou shook his head. 'No... since I think I remembered thinking long ago about the possibility of my other self to become friends with everyone. To give him a second chance at living... after I learned about his past history, I started to understand on why did he hated the pharaoh before...', explained Ryou as his other self calmed down.

But, some kind of understanding seemed to reach out to Yugi as he too realized something else. '--and I too, I guess... made some kind of wish like that. After we left the ruins that time, I thought I could go on without Atemu. But deep inside my heart... I still felt alone and incomplete, even if _he_ said that it was time for me to become whole again. Oh shit... I think in really, when that time... when dark Akunadin attacked me during my attempt on summoning Ra at the museum, he did _killed _the illusion of Atemu in my heart! Then, could it be... when I was at the hospital, the reason that I've asked Kaiba to put a spell on me.. Is it because that a part of me was afraid that I would remember this---?!!'

'It's over now---', said Malik as Ryou tried to comfort the ex-pharaoh-of-3000-years-ago. (Long!! Wah!!) 'No... it's not. The sennen items are still here--!', reminded Ishizu as Rishido, who had been watching the whole scene quietly from the sides, nodded in agreement.

Kaiba suddenly laughed aloud as he slapped the air out of Yugi. 'Hohohoho-- then it's simple!! The only thing we have to do is to throw back the items to whence the came from and it's over! You know... like in the Lord of the Rings!! It's so simple... Yugi, you REALLY worried to much!!', said Kaiba haughtily as Yugi tried to stop him from making him his new punchbag.

'So... do we have to go back to the place where the Eye of Wedjat was?', asked Malik to his sister as Ryou straightened up to hear. (Yugi and Kaiba seemed very busy at the moment) Ishizu shook her head. 'No... we'll have to go to the dig site where Yugi's father found the ancient writings...'

'Why--?', asked Yugi as he and Kaiba finally stopped bullying each other. Rishido straightened up as he finally opened up his mouth to speak. 'Because right after the incident of _shooting star_ sightings coming from that place several month ago, our men had found a sarcophagus that resembled the memory tablet, found in front of the Eye of Wedjat...'

Seto, Yugi and Ryou gaped at them in surprise as Ishizu smiled at Yugi. 'Didn't I hinted to you about the founding of _that_ tomb, not long ago? Now you're interested..?', said Ishizu as Yugi couldn't deny any longer about the decision that he have to make...

--

Yugi looked at Kaiba with a sudden new respect as they rode on Kaiba's limo. 'Really---? Seto... you really _read_ the Lord of the Rings?! I thought you wouldn't read such things!!', he exclaimed as Seto looked at him and Ryou irritatedly. Thankfully he didn't drive today... his driver got to do his proper job again!!

'Of course I did, moron!! Tolkien's works are so good... _the hobbit characters reminded me of you ... haha... _and I thought of rereading it after I had the duel with Amelda. (Seto: Weird... name's like a girl... but he's a boy!! "shrieks" Yugi: Do you had swallowed a lot of me?!! You started to act like me... Seto: Unh?!) Anyway, his deck had some monster that resembled the ones in the book. Like Balrog.... and the Fire Whip Equip card... wooh!!'

Ryou started to giggle like crazy. 'I never noticed that DM had such cards!! Whose ideas _are_ that?!', chattered Ryou as Seto snorted. 'Pegasus... probably.... for all the copyrights violation!! I never forgive him about making the Toon Blue Eyes card in his deck!! It's driving me up to nerves!!!', he retorted in anger.

That reminded Yugi of another thing. 'Ee... Seto. Just wondered, since you were so sour about that card. I'm curious... between Blue Eyes and Shizuka-san, which do you love most?', asked Yugi mischievously as he silently felt for his newly-bought Docomo handphone. (Yugi: It's pretty neat!! Takes pictures too... the only people that knows my number was dad, Seto, Ryou and Malik. =)

It seemed that Yugi hit a nerve as Seto's face turned scarlet. Ryou chuckled as Yugi took the chance to take his pictures! Yugi giggled as the picture turned out great on his screens. 'Cool!! Yugi... sent me a copy!!', exclaimed Ryou as Seto snapped out of his senses. 'Yugi---!!', he cried as Yugi immediately hid his phone.

'I know your choice. You loved 'em both!! But I still wanna send this blushing picture to Mokuba... and perhaps Shizuka-chan!!'

'No!! Yugi... you're ruthless!!'

--

After the long discussion, life was starting to become lively in Yugi's class as Seto, Yugi and Ryou acted like nothing troubling had even happened. They still went on with their act and no one from their class realized anything that was amiss. Anzu was still on and off about her dancing dreams and always alive with her friendship speeches now and then. Honda and Otogi still competed on whoever could win the heart of Jyounouchi's sister, Shizuka. Well, that ended after some more days afterwards when Miho joined in and tried to flirt with Otogi instead.

Eventually Otogi gave up on Shizuka after the girl turned up one day to visit her brother and told him that she had always thought of the lad like a brother. That made _someone_ very happy but Otogi accepted it calmly. Since, he and Miho had started to become closer... much to Honda's chagrin over seeing his ex-crush falling over Otogi.

Gradually, even Jyounouchi forgot about his suspicions about Yugi as they went on with their lives of school and games. Until on Monday, two weeks before the end school term, someone finally revealed himself to Yugi after a long period of disappearance as he stopped Yugi several meters from Domino High. That meeting changes everything that Yugi, Seto and Ryou had planned before...

--

'Mutou Yugi---'

Yugi turned around as Shadi emerged from behind him with the rest of the sennen items. 'Shadi---! How did---', he gasped as Shadi shove the items towards him, '---You... you _knew_ about this from the start, didn't you--?'

One look from the man answered all of his questions...

--

Half way during two of his last classes for the day, Yugi sauntered along the corridors as he stopped in front of his own locker to get some things. He sighed heavily at the thought of his pending mission.

'It's getting closer-- wonder if I can finally tell those guys the truth?', he muttered as suddenly he noticed that his eyesight becoming blurry. No, the locker in front of him started to distort as he felt dizzy all of a sudden. 'What's this--?', he muttered as pain started to grow on his chest...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Finally!! This chappy is finish!!... the end is soon now... soon this fic will be complete. And sorry that I had to summarize the rest of the two weeks... I can't bear to make it any longer... so please review!! I want this fic and the rest of mine to continue receiving review even after its end!! (Well... not ALL. I'm not that good... some of my fics are just silly...) Ja!! And had I told anyone that I had the ONE ring from LoTR? Original!! And my sennen puzzle is almost done... heheh...

az: I've started to think that this fic is beginning to get boring… well, few reviews does make it more convincing! And I think I've even ran out of dry humor… well, I won't change the plot any longer since this one fits in everything… And I wanted to thank several authors out there whose ideas I have adapted to refit the plot to follow the end of the book…


	18. Chapter 18: The Final Revelation

az: A lot of darkness.... beware!! And my dear Starlight-Phoenix, sorry if I confused you... but try rereading chapter 15 till now. I've edited them so constantly before... And mind me.... my grammar sucks at description of sensations...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'll be joining the Pop idol contest... Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 18: The Final Revelation

Written by Azzie/Az .. Alienna Azuani .. YamiAzzie

Yugi's head was getting dizzy as he saw that everything around him twisted and contorted into weird dimensions. During the dizzying aftereffect that ensued, Yugi felt the floor under him vanish as gravity pulled him down; falling into unending abyss. Yugi screamed as the sensation pulled him out of consciousness...

--

'Wha--', gasped Yugi as he found himself back at the high school corridors. No one was around him. Yugi rubbed his head slightly as he still felt the dizzying throbs of pain on his forehead. He grabbed the edge of a table nearby as he fought to stay upright without falling. A growling sound from somewhere near him caused Yugi to back instinctively away as he stepped on something that caused him to fall again. Yugi moaned in pain as he pulled away the cloth that had tripped him.

'Kore wa--?', he gasped as he realized that he was holding a mantel, the type that he felt all too familiar...

But it was then that he saw that he had some rings, worn on his fingers. Not to mention the golden cufflinks on his arm! Yugi immediately took a quick look on his clothes, and his head...

'Nani---? Why was I'm wearing the pharaoh's attire now!! I'm not the pharaoh anymore!! It has passed since 3000 years ago... why--?', Yugi shrieked as he realized that nobody had come through the corridors.. Even after his screams! And then, he realized that something was missing...

'Sennen Puzzle!!', gasped Yugi as he felt nothing hanging over his neck. Already he was feeling a lot more vulnerable. 'Minna!! Anyone!! Where are you guys!!?', he shouted as his own voice echoed all around him. Panic obviously reared its ugly head. 'Everyone!! Jyounouchi... Anzu!!', he cried again vainly as the situation did not changed.

Yugi fell to his knees as despair clouded his heart...

--

--

'Feeling scared without your wittle twi-ngkwet?!!', came a gruff voice behind him. Yugi's heart soared as he recognized the voice. He turned around to find his friends grinning at him. Yugi started to run towards them but something stopped his steps. The way Jyounouchi spoke to him was not friendly, more like taunting...

'Jyounouchi-kun---? Anzu... Honda!! Where did everyone go? Why did you guys left me alone?'

And Yugi received something that he had never expected after two years...

His body was thrown against the rows of lockers as he fell onto the floor in bruises. Yugi brushed his torn and swollen lips as blood trickled to his chin from the cut. A shot of immense pain grew inside his chest as it overpowered the pain he felt on his lips. Shock numbed Yugi's mind right now. How could Jyounouchi... kicked him away like this?!!

'Honda!! Anzu!! I don't understand---', Yugi cried as Honda scoffed at him. 'Why did you addressed me so fondly? And you even... damn!! Do you think you can be equal to Atemu, if you dressed like _that?_ You would never be better than him!! And why did you still exist?! Get off from our shadows!!'

'Honda!! Wha--'

'Why didn't you just die, Yugi?! Why hadn't you go instead of Atemu?! I hate you!! I despised EVERYTHING about your existence!!'

'Anzu--?!!'

Jyounouchi snickered as Yugi received another blow, this time from his back. Pain shot from all over his body as Yugi crouched in a fetal position, receiving the blows and abuse without fighting.

_ 'I'll... just die then... I'm back to being alone...'_, thought Yugi as he felt no more emotion alive in him.

_ Yes... DIE!! Fall into the dark realm where we awaits your arrival!!_

_ 'What--? Who's there?'_

/Wake up... Yugi!!/

Gradually, Yugi started to remember himself before this visions came up. A warning shot through his heart like a saber. _'Are these things... happening to me, destined to be when I will let go of the sennen items again..? Will my fate be always tied to the realm of darkness?'_, thought Yugi again as the images of his fellow friends beating him vanished into thin air. Instead, decayed hands from the underworld stretched out towards him to take him away.

_ Come... come with us!! Let us devour your hollowed soul and savor your destruction..._

Yugi closed his eyes in defeat as he waited for the claws to break him apart... but it never came. Yugi opened his eyes to find a blinding light, cutting through the dark illusions and banished the wretched demons. Several forms emerged in front of him as Yugi recognized them...

Dark Magician knelt down before him as he offered his comfort.

'My master... this is all merely illusions to fool you into the depth of despair! Do not let yourself fall into the darkness...', he said as Priest Seto came into view. Yugi blinked in confusion. 'Cousin.., you cannot wait any longer. The shadows are fighting to stay in this world! You have to do it quick!!'

'The 7 sennen items cannot remain in existence any longer!!', said Priestess Isis, this time as Mahado moved away. '...As long as these relics had not be destroyed, your life would be in danger---' Yugi looked at her in surprise as Karim showed himself to him. 'But not to worry...', he said as Shada nodded at him. 'We will protect your soul from the shadows until then... It is our sole duty for you--'

Yugi nodded as the priests parted to let another one to come in. He choked as the man revealed to be Pharaoh Akunumkanon!

The old pharaoh smiled kindly. 'Be strong, my son... Don't let the shadows swallows you for the second time...', he said as Priest Seto held out his hand to him. 'Come... it's time for you to return to where you belong...', he said as Yugi grabbed his hand...

/_...You can do it!! You've passed the ritual before... everything had not end yet for you!!_/

/I know... but this time, I won't back away from it.../

/_That's good to hear... aibou_/

/Haha... funny to hear it coming again from _myself_.../

/_Haah..._/

--

Yugi opened his eyes to find himself in the school's sick bay. Kaiba was all too happy to see him. 'Wha-- happen?', he said groggily as Kaiba helped him up. '--I found you unconscious at the corridors. Sent you here... thankfully nothing's wrong on you but you kept tossing and turning for no reason. The mutt just went out, along with the girl for some fresh air... school's already over today, you know. So... what's really happened to you?'

Yugi rolled his eyes at him after the elaborate explanation before giving out a long sigh. 'I guess... mildly putting it, I was almost got my soul devoured by the darkness...'

Kaiba was taken aback. 'What do you mean--?'

'I had a vision... probably what the future would be for me. But I sure hoped it would never happen.. And not quite, as I've already experienced _that_ sort of future... not so long ago..', said Yugi faintly as he looked up straight at his friend's face. 'Seto, I think we should no longer stall the matter. We must settle this once and for all--!!'

Jyounouchi froze as he almost reached the door...

Kaiba looked at Yugi in disbelief. '_That_--!!? Are you sure?', he said as Yugi nodded. 'Do you... want to tell _them?_ Though I don't see why, but they still thought that you to just become out of character over your memory loss...'

Heavens pray fall on him as Jyounouchi fought to stay calm. It's lucky that he had told Anzu to go home before. But thankfully he hadn't made any noise to draw attention to himself. Anger grew inside his heart as he quietly, and speedily left the halls...

Meanwhile, the two friends were still in deep discussion; not noticing any eavesdroppers from outside. 'I don't know... but I'm sure of _this_ decision, Seto. Not only because your other self was telling me to do so, but also the other four too. If not because of them and you, I thought I would never have wakened up from that nightmare!'

Kaiba had nothing to say. 'But... Shadi, he... the other two items were still with him!!', he stuttered as Yugi grabbed his bag from the side table. He took out his puzzle, looking very intact and not broken as the others had thought, along with the sennen scale and ankh. Kaiba was stunned without words. 'He came to me this morning. And I guess, I've finally understood it. Shadi and Shadu was in fact the very same person... I wondered if it was all because of me. My soul trapped inside the Millennium Puzzle... a part of it released to be reborn as me when Shimon, no... my grandfather, found the golden box. Mahado, sealed inside the stone slab and became Dark Magician to continue protecting me... and Shadu? Could he cast a spell on himself so that he would be there when my soul had been freed from the puzzle?'

'Now... now, you were giving me the strange speech again! Ignore all those bad memories, now we had to worry about the present condition!! Then, it's settled? If so, we'll have to start our plans altogether... I'll tell Ishizu, you call on Ryou.'

'Right... and I'll talk to my father about this. It's time to make some drastic measures...', said Yugi as they both grabbed their things and said their goodbyes to the nurse, before hurrying towards their own home. Unknown to Yugi, the troubles had not yet ended for him and that his worst days have just begun...

--

During the three days after that troubling evening, Jyounouchi had been acting uncanny. Not to mention the trio, as they have started their own plans to work. A lot of paperworks had to be done, and it was hard enough for them to keep the pretence towards their own classmates. But since it was the examination week, no one questioned their seriousness at catching up with all of the work needed to be done.

On the last day of the exams, Jyounouchi finally plucked up his courage and confronted with Yugi...

--

'Yugi... there's something that I wanted to talk to you about---'

Yugi looked up towards him as he finished stuffing all his books into his bag. 'What-- Jyounouchi?', he said as he followed the lad out of the class, along with his other friends. 'I want you to explain the whole truth to me!! Ever since the last two weeks, I've noticed something strange around you.. or rather, I've_ heard_ a lot of disturbing things. Yugi, tell me the truth!! Are you hiding something from us?!', said Jyounouchi as Yugi immediately changed from cheerful to serious.

Anzu, along with Honda and Otogi, was puzzled by his sudden outburst. 'Do you really want to know, Jyounouchi-_kun_? But then... there's a catch on it, if you dare. And I think that you guys want to know too--?', said Yugi as he turned towards his other friends. Anzu and Honda said nothing but Otogi just shrugged. 'I don't care either way... because I trusted you, Yugi. If you think you wanted to tell me about it.. you could always called me, would you?', said Otogi as Yugi smiled.

'Of course... Thanks, Otogi-kun.', answered Yugi as Otogi smiled in return. 'Ja... my time here is almost over. I'll be returning to America next month so... bye!! Got to be off packing early--', he said again as he dashed away, leaving the rest of them behind. Yugi took this chance to ask Jyounouchi again. 'Would you accept my challenge, Jyounouchi? If you could defeat me in a duel, I will tell you guys about everything... If not, I will not reveal my secrets. Either way, you cannot change my decisions, whatever it is that you will find out in the end...'

'Duel?!!', gasped Anzu and Honda in surprise. 'Why--? There's no reason--', cried Anzu as Yugi opened his locker and pulled out his Duel Disk. 'A reason?! But oh, my friend... there IS. And it will be much like a small payback... no, it is something that I want to end!', said Yugi as he slammed the locker shut.

'So Jyounouchi... accept it or not?', taunted Yugi again.

Jyounouchi had expected this before, so he had been prepared. 'Yes... I accept.'

'But Jyounouchi!! Yugi still--- his memories... he could get hurt!!', gasped Anzu as Yugi scoffed at them. 'I'm okay, Anzu... Jyounouchi had no advantage over me in DM...', scoffed Yugi as he took out his sennen box and puzzle from his bag. The puzzle, he wore again on his neck and the box he opened and took out a DM card. He threw it towards Jyounouchi, who deftly caught it in the air.

'I returned this card to you. For anything, that card had twice helped me... first, during my duel with Seto and second, while I tried to defend myself from Heishin who had tried to kill me...', said Yugi as the four of them already arrived at the field. Anzu was surprised on hearing this but Honda was clueless about this statement, because he really doesn't know!! (Hahahaha)

'Yeah, Anzu...! I DID not lose my memory...', said Yugi as he noticed Anzu's surprise.

Jyounouchi looked at the card that Yugi threw at him and sure enough, it was Red Eyes Black Dragon. 'Anyway... I won't use the God Cards, so you don't have to worry...'

'Shut up already... let's duel!!', shouted Jyounouchi as Anzu and Honda backed away. Yugi smirked. 'Impatient are you?', said Yugi again as he activated his Duel Disk. Jyounouchi did the same.

'**DUEL!!!**', exclaimed the two of them as Yugi first summoned his Magnet Warrior Beta on the field...

--

Yugi glanced towards his own monsters, on the field; namely the Silent Swordsman and Big Shield Guardian. He thought of his two face-down trap cards and magic card. And he smirked as he looked at his hand cards and knew that on this turn, he would win. He looked up towards Jyounouchi and his friends.

'_I could've just walk away and kept everything from them. But then, would it be fair--? To them...'_, thought Yugi as Jyounouchi urged him to make a move.

'---_or to me?'_

Instead, Yugi placed his palm on his deck; signaling his decision of surrendering the duel.

--

'...You've won. You finally defeated me..', said Yugi as he switched off the Duel Disk system. He hung his head low as Jyounouchi on the opposite side, looked at him in shock. Anzu and Honda, who had been at the sidelines, were also surprised. Jyounouchi stared at him in disbelief.

'Yugi... what's with you today? You can't surrender like that easily!!', he spoke harshly as Seto walked towards Yugi's side. (Yeah, he's been hiding somewhere all the time...) Jyounouchi glared at the uninvited observer. 'You asked for a duel... but you hadn't tried your best on playing!! Who do you think I am, Yugi?! Are you looking down on me?!', he cried as Anzu made a disgruntled noise at him.

'Jyounouchi!! Watch your mouth...! You're being so rough--'

'I didn't act so harsh as--'

'Shut up, Jyounouchi!!', growled Kaiba as he wrapped his arm around Yugi's shoulder. He picked some of Yugi's hand cards as he realized that Yugi could have won over Jyou easily. (Well, I'm lazy to describe the duel...) He sighed. 'Hmm... I guess you really _care_!! In normal events, you could have done better and WON. So, why didn't you just _tell_ them and be _done_ with it?!', he said as Jyounouchi and the gang stared at the two of them with surprise.

'What... were you guys... talking about..?', gasped Jyounouchi in astonishment. Anzu and Honda retained their silence as they had nothing to say about. Yugi let out a sigh.

'I'm not sure whether I should tell them or not, _I mean not just about the lie_. Anyway... I'll worry about the same...', he said as the two maintained the pose. Minutes passed, and Yugi started to get irritated. Veins started to pop out off the side of his head.

'Seto!!! How **long** are you gonna keep holding me like this!! Get off me!!!', He cried as Kaiba let go, albeit mischievously. The brunette grinned. 'I thought you never asked!! You were about to collapse with the tension we're getting into and I thought some non-verbal counseling is needed.....'

Yugi felt a muscle twitching at the side of his mouth. Slowly, he took off his bag and weighing it for good measure. 'Counseling, you said?', snarled Yugi as Jyounouchi-tachi froze at hearing his tone of voice. 'That was nonsense!! I'll get you, SETO!!!!', shouted Yugi as he chased Kaiba around the school yard, slapping the taller lad with his bag. 'Baka BA---KA ECHI!!! YAOI-MINDED!!', shouted Yugi over and over as Kaiba laughed maniacally.

Jyounouchi, Anzu and Honda was completely dumbfounded as they saw the two running around, even as Bakura Ryou came in to find out what was the commotion about at the first place. Eventually, the two was exhausted with all of the running and slapping and both just collapsed on the grassy field. Jyounouchi and the crowd crept closer towards them, cautiously as the two gasped for breath.

'You guys---', gasped Jyounouchi as Kaiba nodded at them, looking half-drunk. 'Come on... sit 'round 'ere and all. It's a loooong story we need to blurt out!!', he said as he leaned on Yugi's side and saw Ryou. 'Aah... you came at last, Bakura-kun!! Now we can do a lot to convince them that we're not... playin' 'round...'

Anzu, Jyounouchi and Honda looked at Bakura expectantly. 'What... did Kaiba-kun meant..?', asked Anzu as Ryou glowered at Seto. 'You idiot!! I'm not the one who had issues over not revealing the truth to his friends!!', he chimed as Seto made irritable faces, much to the trio's discomfort. He slapped Yugi's hips very hard. 'Oii, tell them!! It's your problem from the beginning..._ and don't chicken away after you've made a deal with them..._', he hissed as Yugi slapped him back. 'You tell them!! I don't know how to start!! _And I'm not chickening!! It's just... awkward..._', Yugi hissed back as Seto pinched him.

'You should be the one to tell them, _ba---ka_!! I'm not the one who is going to die of guilt over not telling them the truth!!', Seto countered as Yugi squealed in pain after he pinched his arm. 'That hurt!! You tell them the first part for me... or I tell them your secret!!', Yugi shot back at him as Seto glared at him. He looked at Bakura, Jyounouchi, Anzu and Honda's astounded looks as he gave up the fight. 'Okay... I'll tell them, you idiot. Give me my rod...', said Kaiba in defeat.

Yugi rummaged his bag over some books and sennen items he got from Shadi on yesterday's morning, until he pulled out the sennen rod. He passed the ancient relic to him. Seto grabbed it nonchalantly as he stared at the three good friends of Yugi. 'Alright... This will not hurt you guys. Bakura, stay away from them...', said Kaiba as he cast the rod's magic over them.

Anzu, Jyounouchi and Honda blinked in confusion as Kaiba put down the rod away from them. 'What... what did you do to us?!', gasped Honda as Kaiba smirked at them. 'Remember everything now...?', he said as Jyounouchi gave him a strange look. 'Remember what, Kaiba?!', he barked as Kaiba continued smirking. 'Remember anything about going to Egypt with everyone, say, about two years ago..?', he stated blankly as he continued, '..what did you guys do there?', he said as Jyounouchi showed signs of remembering something.

'We went there to help Atemu finish of his unfinished business... There was a ceremonial ritual where Yugi and him had to duel... and the sennen items---', he drawled as Kaiba purposely waved the rod at his face.

'And what about the sennen items---?', taunted Kaiba as realization struck Anzu and Jyounouchi's mind. 'The rod!!', the two exclaimed as Honda, who still hadn't realize anything gaped at them stupidly. '--how could you still be having it?! They were supposed to be falling into the abyss under the ruins that time!!', exclaimed the two as Kaiba nodded.

'Brilliant!! It makes it easier for me to tell... this rod here, being with me is because of the same thing that these things---', he pointed to Yugi's bag, where a glint of sennen ankh and scale can be seen, '---and that---', he pointed towards the sennen puzzle that was still hanging over Yugi's neck, '--- and that--', pointing at Ryou's sennen ring,'--and the sennen tauk and the eye... still existing beside us...'

Honda frowned as he _finally_ understood the matter about the visit to Egypt. '...I don't get it--', he cried as the others said the same. Kaiba shrugged. '..It means, that something or _someone_... had done something to accidentally bring these items back to us and we didn't realized it until recently…', he said sarcastically as he poked Yugi lightly with his rod. 'And the _magic_... had also seemed to alter our memories, along with the return of the items… not to mention some people's souls... and whose fault is it?', said Kaiba as he turned his attention towards Yugi, while still poking him gently.

Yugi sighed as he looked up towards his friends for the first time since Kaiba started explaining. 'My father... did it.', said Yugi dully as the trio stared at them in disbelief. Kaiba conveniently removed the bottom cover of the rod and poked the sharp end towards Bakura. 'Ryou... you continue the story... the second_ part_...', said Kaiba as Ryou sighed.

The trio turned his glance at him in response as Bakura started explaining. 'Yugi's father... if you don't know already, was an archeologist in Egypt. Coincidentally, his field of work happened to be about finding the tomb of the Pharaoh Akunumkanon at the Valley of the Kings. For your info, that pharaoh _happens_ to be your old friend, Atemu's father...', said Ryou.

Jyounouchi, Honda and Anzu opened their mouths wide at this knowledge as Bakura snickered between his hikari and darker selves. 'Funny, when you relate that Yugi was committing himself with Atemu's destiny while his father was researching Atemu's father at the same time... Such the fate for the reincarnate of the nameless pharaoh...', smirked Bakura as Yugi kicked him hard. Yeah, this is the Yami no Bakura speaking...

'That was not funny!!', Yugi seethed between his teethes as Seto waved his rods menacingly at him. Bakura retaliated. 'Okay!! So the story is, he stumbled over a spell in some of the tablets over there that seemed to be a lost excerpt from the ancient Book of the Moon... and started the spell that brought back the sennen items from the darkness...', said Bakura slowly as Seto grumbled irritably, '...along with Heishin for the ride... not to mention the dark Akunadin...'

'And that's what happened...', the albino ended his explanation as Jyounouchi sighed. 'So, what's so hard about telling us about that?', he said as Seto gathered everyone back up to their feet.

He shoved a hand over Yugi's side. 'Your turn... I told them about the memory wipe, Bakura... the sennen accident. You tell them about the _real_ bad news...', he said as Yugi sighed heavily.

'What is it, Yugi?', said Jyounouchi worriedly as Anzu made nervous gestures. Yugi let it out. 'I'm leaving... Malik and the others had left earlier to settle some things before hand, but me... my father, Seto and Ryou will be going to Egypt afterwards to fix these things up. We've already arranged everything...'

Honda sighed in relief. '_That_ was the bad news? It's okay... we've done it before, we could do it again now. We'll go with you guys!!', he said as Jyounouchi and Anzu nodded in agreement. Seto frowned at them. 'That was the glitch. _You guys_ are **NOT** going to join us. Coz' I won't be bothered to send you guys home after that.... _waste of time and money_... After this matter was settled, _none_ of us would be returning to Japan anytime sooner. Yugi and Ryou would remain there, and me and Mokuba would go back to America to oversee my KaibaLand project. And I maybe will do something else after that.. another project, I guess...', he said as Yugi flashed him a grateful smile for helping him out with the truth.

Jyounouchi stared at Yugi, Kaiba and Ryou in disbelief. 'What--?!!', he gasped as Anzu and Honda were at lost for words...

--

--

[TBC]

* * *

az: I'm evil....= And boy.... I do a very long chapters these days... (No!! this is ultimately the longest I've ever done!!).... And I had done some LoTR inserts on the last chapter edition if anyone wanna know. And to anyone who doesn't know about the Eye of Wedjat or the ceremonial ritual, hehe... that was on the final Yugioh manga.... =


	19. Chapter 19: Hasty Partings

az: I thought I remembered stating that I wanted to make a Yugi/Anzu pairing. But you know... I gave it a thought. It's hard... so don't have hopes too high for them...

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... Takashi Sorimachi will be my partner in crime!! Lol…. Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 19: Hasty partings

Written by Azzie/Az .. Alienna Azuani .. YamiAzzie

Jyounouchi stared at Yugi in disbelief. 'Yu... Yugi!! What're you saying?!! I understand about all that you said and now all of us could remember again about everything and that was thanks to you for straightening this up. But why _must_ you leave..?!! After Atemu had left for the netherworld... now _you_ are leaving us?!! You... can't!!', he exclaimed as Honda and Anzu cried in surprise.

Tears filled Anzu's eyes as she glanced between Yugi, Kaiba and Ryou's determined faces. 'You guys... don't tell me that this is all true...', she gasped helplessly as Honda shook his head. 'You're kidding...!! Yugi, tell me that this is a lie!! You CANNOT leave us like this!!', he cried in vain.

Yugi merely looked at them coldly as he recollected all his DM cards and duel disk into his bag. 'This is not a lie. I had no intention of fooling everybody today...', he said as he looked up to them. '..I'll be following my father to Egypt to fix all of this and bury the sennen items again. And I guess I will definitely be staying there for a very long time...'

'Yup... and I'm going with Yugi all the way...', said Ryou as he switched roles with his Yami. '..I had always considered this as my other self's second chance to living a normal life, away from hatred and treachery... even after realizing that the events before were only illusions. I've always thought that the other me was real... that the sennen ring brought him back. And I've considered this as a chance to make peace with him. But illusions are still illusions, and this other self of mine is just a memory of him...', said the lad as he continued, '...so, I've decided with Kaiba-kun to follow Yugi along and help him fix everything. It's time to let go of the illusions...'

'...but you can't...!!', gasped Jyounouchi again, desperately as Yugi's body shook with frustration. 'Then... to keep me always by your side, would you even go as far as keeping me trapped here in the chains of friendship, never letting me to continue forging my own destiny? Answer me... Jyounouchi-kun!! That time... even when you guys were reluctant to let Atemu go, you did. He WAS supposed to be my past self, 3000 years ago, don't you realize? I admitted that at the time I too was reluctant to let go but not now. I realized that he HAD to go!! Only then, that I could finally be my true self...'

'Yugi...', Jyounouchi gasped as he, Honda and Anzu looked at him. '...If you can let him go to follow his destiny, why can't you guys let me go?!!', cried Yugi in tears as the trio was taken aback.

'That was different!! Atemu was---'

'Technically _dead_, is it?! So, why is that making any difference? What do you guys think I am?!! I'm your friend... but that was not supposed to be that I HAVE to be always with you guys!! I won't stand for this...!!', cried Yugi as he grabbed Kaiba's arm. 'Let's go...Seto, Bakura-kun... I had no more to say...', he said as he urged them to follow him.

Jyounouchi lurched over him and grabbed Yugi's hand harshly. 'Wait... Yugi!! I still didn't--'

Yugi winced at Jyounouchi's grasp. 'It hurts... Jyounouchi-kun!!', whispered Yugi as the blond released him immediately. Yugi took the chance to flee from the place. Anzu immediately ran off to follow him.

Kaiba glanced towards the mediocre and Honda before convincing Ryou to leave. He waved his hand towards the others. 'Ja... since this was finished, we all be taking our leave. I had other business to attend to, don't you know? Apart of watching over my company... I have to make sure my theme park on the USA running smoothly... And man!! I AM tired of these long speeches, you know…', he said offhandedly.

'Yeah... I'll go with you. We still had to discuss this with Malik and Ishizu-san on the line... _and of course, Akira-san too..._', said Ryou as Kaiba nodded. '...aah! And we should fetch Yugi. No way that we'd leave him out of the discussion...'

'...You guys...'

'...had something to do with this, do you...?!'

Kaiba turned around towards Jyounouchi before brushing Ryou away. 'Bakura... you go first to my car and wait for me and Yugi there. We'll come later...' Ryou nodded as he left. Kaiba turned his attention towards Jyounouchi and Honda.

Jyounouchi and Honda smirked as they thought that they had guessed right. 'It's true, isn't it? You can't stand seeing Yugi with us and when the troubles happened and you two got closer, you want to split us apart...', said Jyounouchi as Honda added, 'That was unforgivable for you!! Yugi belonged with us and you know it!! You can't take him away from us...!!'

'Leaving Domino City was Yugi's own decision!! I did not force him to do anything... But the matter of the sennen items and him is my business too. That's why I've decided to help him.', said Kaiba harshly as the other two frowned...

--

Yugi ran and ran as he came to a stop on a park. He let himself fall beside an oak tree and just lay there quietly. 'Forgive me... Jyounouchi-kun. I just had to do this...', he gasped as he contemplated his own feelings. _I'd rather do this that having the past repeated again..._

'Yugi...!! Wait...'

Yugi quickly wiped away the tears on his face and started to leave again.

'Wait!! Stop... Yugi!!', cried Anzu again, this time nearer. Yugi paused in mid-step. 'You can't... really mean it? Those words... our friendship does not mean just simple ties of friendship to you!! All this time... wasn't it that _this_ friendship that helped you overcomes all the hardships? All those times when you and Atemu almost perished in your duels...?'

Yugi let out a soft sigh. 'I... haven't forgotten that...'

'So why...?'

'Don't you get it? This time, it is my journey alone. Kaiba and Ryou understand that, but they've followed as they felt that this is a part of their duty. As this matter involved the sennen items...'

'But couldn't we...'

'No!! This time, I won't let any of you coming along. This task does not have anything to do with you guys. This is** none** of your business!!'

'Who said that it wasn't? You---'

Yugi turned around towards her and smiled. 'Right now, who are you seeing in front of you? Is it my past self, Atemu or Yugi Mutou of the present that you are seeing? Do you still bear that old thought of not wanting to let _the other _me go? Haii… Seto's right at some point, the past was not so important. The past was still there, but only the evidence of what that has been achieved. Life must go on, don't you think so? And I've decided to start all over again...'

Anzu stared wide open at him in surprise. 'Yugi... did you decide to leave because of me? I--'

Yugi's eyes flared after hearing the statement. Anger rushed into his mind as he tried to compose his words. 'Everything. doesn't. have. to be. because of you!! I had long acknowledged the one whom you liked. But that person was long dead and was my former. I had accepted that and now you should!! Perhaps with that thought too, that I've decided to leave. I want you guys to forget myself of 3000 years ago. That was my final decision... _I don't desire to dwell anymore into the memory of darkness!!_ It should have been better if you guys never knew about _him_. It's easier...', said Yugi with an air of finality as he started to leave again.

'Yugi, I--', cried Anzu desperately.

'Hadn't you told me that you wanted to enter a dance school in New York? Isn't that your dream? Well, this is mine and my destiny that I wanted to make. Please respect this wish of mine and I hoped that you'll get to your dreams too. If there is a chance of meeting again, the time will decide...', said Yugi as shove his hand towards her. 'Goodbye... I don't think we'll meet again after this. I had a lot to prepare for our departure.'

Anzu shook his hand briefly as Yugi's cellphone rang. He answered it with haste. 'Umm... yeah, I'll come. I'll wait for you to pick me up. I'm at the park northeast from where you are... hmm.. okay... ja!!', said Yugi as he hung up. 'It's Seto... Well, goodbye again...', he said as he walked away.

Anzu just watched him go with heavy heart as she started to cry...

--

'That's not it!! You must have convinced him somewhat!! All those speeches of friends being not important are so like you...'

Kaiba smirked. 'You who had simple brains won't understand how his mind worked. The matter of the sennen items had nothing to do with you guys from the start. I myself would have done the same if I am at his place. Well... my time is up...', said Kaiba as he looked at his watch. He pulled out his own cellphone and started dialing some numbers. The call was connected in a matter of minutes.

'Hello, Yugi? Calmed down now?... you know that we had some more business to attend to... Hah! I'll be there, wait for me...', Kaiba wait a little while before hanging up. He glanced towards Honda and Jyounouchi. 'It's my cue to leave... So long!!', said Kaiba as he left the school yard. (Kaiba: Yeah... and good riddance!! Blame it to the author coz I'm so cruel!! Lol... az: Seto....!! Xx##)

--

Yugi stood still as the black car stopped beside him. The window on the driver's side scrolled down to reveal Seto's face. Yugi smiled as he hastened towards the other side of the car.

'Yugi...!! Wait!', called Jyounouchi as he and Honda dashed towards his direction. Yugi, as well as Seto and Bakura smirked in amusement at the determination of the two.

'What do you want... Jyounouchi-kun..?'. said Yugi, but this time not with the harshness of his previous cold tone. 'I thought I have said enough for you to understand and Seto... must have said some more...', he said again with a hint of sorrow. Anzu emerged beside Jyounouchi as she saw and heard them.

'Who do you think I am? Yugi..?! After all that we've gone through, do you still want to exclude us out? Your own friends?! I fought with you through everything... including the Do-ma organization!! I received one of the Legendary Dragon cards as proof of me being a true duelist. Is that not enough?!', cried Jyounouchi in vain.

Yugi frowned as shadows started to creep into his heart again. A jab of pain shot through his heart as he fought to overcome it. 'This... is not your battle!! It's mine... and our own trouble!! There was... and will be no need for any of you to go through with... And this does not have to do with you being a true duelist!! Stop being such a pigheaded, busybody!!', said Yugi painfully. The pain grew and he stumbled onto the road. Kaiba and Bakura immediately rushed out of the car to his aid.

Jyounouchi, Honda and Anzu stood dumbfounded as they tried to come closer.

'Don't come closer!!', ordered Kaiba as he lifted Yugi up. He glanced down towards Yugi in concern. 'Yugi... are you--'

'I'm fine...', croaked Yugi as he tried to reassure the two. '...just get away from here. The sooner we reseal the dark powers and the items...'ll be fine...', he whispered softly to them as Seto and Ryou helped him get into the front passenger seat. Bakura slammed the door shut as he too jumped into the back seat. Kaiba sauntered towards the driver's side of the car as he looked over towards the threesome.

'Oi... Jyounouchi!! Whether you liked it or not, Yugi and us will be leaving to solve our problems... **without** your help! The matter of the sennen items and Ancient Egypt had always been none of your business at start. It's just unfortunate that circumstances existed that you had to be in it in the past. Goodbye... I don't expect that we'll be seeing you in this short time. Nor any sooner...', drawled Kaiba as he jumped in and drove the car away. (Kaiba: Or we'll send a postcard!!! Or two… Yugi: Seto, you ARE an idiot… Seto: Well, I learned from the best! Ryou: Sheesh, stop bullying Yugi… you!!)

Jyounouchi hung his mouth open in disbelief as Honda steamed in fury. 'It's just his own way to say 'It's none of our business' at us!! And Yugi was being insensible. He treated us like garbage after all that we've gone through!!'

'That was not it...', said Jyounouchi as Honda glared at him in surprise. '...They were covering their own actions so smoothly. Didn't you two see it when Yugi was dueling with me and just now when he fell? They were hiding something more from us... I felt that there is another sense of urgency from them, other than wanting to return the sennen items back to where they belonged. But why did Yugi tried to hide it from us?!', he said again as Honda and Anzu were silenced.

....and it was a long time before the three friends gave up on the musings and left the place of remorse.

--

--Anzu--

Yugi, Bakura-kun and Kaiba-kun had ceased coming to school since that dreadful day. The other classmates were wondering. Otogi-kun and Miho-chan had asked for them too and thankfully, they were the only ones that we had to explain for their leave, about the truth. School term will end in another week or so and Otogi-kun would also return to America when this term ended. He was still a transfer student anyway. But I wondered about the three, where will they go after their task was over.

Though, much to say, the people that had stayed here was nothing short of a worry. Since that day, Jyounouchi-kun had been very quiet. He's still taking hurt of Yugi not letting us help him with his troubles. Or perhaps he felt sad, since Yugi also left him after Atemu did; two years ago. But this time, certainly we'll meet again... wouldn't we? At least, we know that they are still alive. And I wonder... will Yugi ever forgive me?

I admitted that I loved the pharaoh. I guess when I realized it, I've been taking him insignificant. When it was found out that Atemu was his past self and all, the damage had been done. There's nothing I could do to repent to my actions. I've hurt him deeply... at the point that when he said his leaving was not because of me, it hurts me in return. I guessed it was the end of us...

--

Days before the last day of school, we received the official note from our teacher. Apparently, Yugi, Bakura and Kaiba had sent their application to leave the school. And as their grades had gone up since two years ago, the school had nothing but good praise for them. Let them out so easily without any hindrance. Also I heard that Mokuba had ceased schooling for he too will be going to his private school onward; for apparently Kaiba had wanted to bring him along for the ride.

Everyone seemed to leave us, not mentioning our Egyptian friends, who had left earlier.

Yesterday, we went to Yugi's house. The Kame Game Shop was still open. But, only Yugi's grandfather and mother were there. He told us that Yugi's father had taken him along with Bakura to Egypt, but no specific place. What startled us was that they took the journey two days ago by KaibaCorp's personal flight, without telling!! It gave us the impression that Yugi really doesn't want us to see him off.

But then again, here I am. Back at Yugi's old bedroom. His things were here still, except some of his clothes which he took along. Still no Yugi, but I don't care. I just liked to be here with his memories...

I glanced towards his desk when I noticed an envelope on his table. I picked it up. To my surprise, it was addressed to me...

[TBC]

* * *

az: Can I ask for some more reviews? Can't I? It's just fair… Oh well. I just say this for ALL the former reviewees that I had once recieved. Yeah…. I'll email you guys soon… I'll tell you guys about this. TT…. But I don't want to be such a pusher….. TT Oh, anyway….

**Please Review!!!! TT**

Seto: or else, I'll attack you guys with my Blue Eyes!!! Triple Torpedo Bu--------rst Stream!!!

Az: cringed wasn't it too much?

Seto: No!!!!


	20. Chapter 20: Hidden Message

az: Hmm… I wonder if this turned out to be good… Cross my fingers…..

A/N: Oh man…. Now I had to recheck my fics!! The Quick/edit ruined my formatting!!!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM decks that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... Seto will be my boyfriend!! Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 20: Hidden Message

Written by Azzie/Az .. Alienna Azuani .. YamiAzzie

'What's this---', whispered Anzu as her opened the envelope. A small tape fell out of the envelope as well as a slip of paper. She picked up the paper to read it.

------------------------------------------------------------

To Anzu.... nah, to whoever that found this blasted thing.... I don't care!!

I've asked jii-chan to just let any of you get in here... if you guys still wanted more explanation... I left the camcorder here so that you guys could watch it. It's okay... I can get another one if I have to..

Yugi..

---------------------------------------------------------------

Anzu inserted the adaptors to the respective ports as she connected the camcorder to the TV set. And then, she started playing the tape. The TV screen were blurry at the beginning but images came out after that and Yugi emerged from the screens as he backed away from the camcorder. He smiled.

/Hi… it's me again!! Hehe… I guess, if you guys are watching this now… it means that you guys still cared about me…/

'What the--', gasped Anzu. But then again, considering that Yugi had done a lot in attempting to hurt their feelings… it was right for him to say so.

/I bet that you guys were eager to know about what was really going on that day, do ya? I guess so… it's not like I had not expected it. That day, I had a lot to say… but seemed that I just can't say it out!! You guys had shown no signs that you've remembered and so if I told you… you guys definitely won't believe me…/

'I guess it's coming out now… the real reason about everything---', whispered Anzu to herself, not noticing another presence entering the room from behind her. Anzu frowned as she heard the last of Yugi's sentence. '—what… what is it that had happened before? What---'

Yugi showed signs of wanting to just choke himself with sarcasm as he began to chuckle.

/Hahaha… do you guys know at all, about those things that had happened between us after that visit to Egypt? One and a half years ago… you three had completely abandoned me as a friend. _Completely_… you understand?! Otogi and Miho-san had not changed drastically as you guys have, thankfully but it still did not changed the fact that you guys betrayed me!! That time… it's like that everything that had happened since I came to solving the sennen puzzle did not happen!! You guys treated me like dirt, not even worth to be friends with…/

Yugi sighed as he recollected the painful memories back while caressing his puzzle.

/I even came to think that everything that had happened before had been just a dream, but Bakura remembers. And I knew that Seto would too…/

And Anzu felt a jolt of sorrow as she processed the lines of words into her mind. The person behind her too felt the same.

/But I hadn't tried to tell Seto about this. For you guys had never shown your true colors in front of him. Though, I got a chance to talk to Ryou one day and what shocked me to know, is that… you guys had been telling the whole class to keep away from me and never to try talking to me. You guys had done the length to keep me helpless and alone so that you guys could have your way of making the full advantage of bullying me to the highest limits!! That was when the items showed up one day to me… that I had made the wish to get back those times when you guys were still my friends…/

Yugi sighed as sounds of door opening from behind was heard from the set.

[I never knew about that! So, this was what happened that time, eh?] Yugi turned around as Kaiba emerged into the screens.

/I had never wanted you to worry… it's not like you hadn't enough problems. That time, other than school… you had a lot of problems regarding those people who tried to sabotage the company…/ Kaiba rolled his eyes at him as he sat down beside him on the bed.

[I guess… but honestly, they don't remember anything from those times? Even Duel Monsters?!] Yugi nodded as he grabbed his cards from the bedside. /Even that... I supposed they would not remember it as it was kind of like your own version of the dark game… even with the tournaments on TV, they've ignored it/

Kaiba frowned as he got all of it in. But then he saw the camcorder. The pictures shook as Kaiba rose to tamper with the device. [Ehem… I never thought you would go as far as leaving a message in this form. It's too cute of you…] The pictures spun as it showed Seto's grinning face. [Wonder if I could say anything… Oii, mutt!! If you're watching this, remember… the next time we meet, if you bullied Yugi again after any of us returned here I'll get you!! The only one that can take advantage over Yugi is ME!! Got it!!?] Cried Kaiba as he grinned at the camera.

'Hah!! It's kinda of strange of him saying that… and he still called me a mutt!!'

Anzu turned around, startled as Jyounouchi grinned at her. 'Sorry I came in suddenly… but I just can't help myself…', said Jyounouchi as Anzu shrugged.

/What are you saying!!? And give it back!! Just because you were taller than me by a few inches doesn't give you the rights to bully me easily…/ The picture swerved as Yugi came into view. [Well, I'll give it back if you agreed to play some rounds of DM game!!] The pictures spun again as Kaiba seemed to have replaced the camcorder back on the table. Kaiba jumped on the bed as Yugi followed beside him, carrying his cards. Yugi smirked at him. /Okay, but we won't use any Life Points in the game. You know that we both are like equals. There's no telling how long till the game ends!! If you want to play, you have to follow my rules…/

Kaiba grinned as he accepted the pact. [Okay… but if you want to include the God cards in play, you have to lend me Obelisk. It's not fair if you had three of them---] Yugi grinned as he pulled out the card for him. /And I won't use Ra… and wait till I turn off the camera--/Yugi said as Kaiba pulled him back. [Give me a turn to give a word… you stupid! I want to give them a warning---]

/I thought you have said that---/ Kaiba shook his head. [No… I didn't tell them this!!...#turning towards the camera# You guys… if there is any chance of we meeting again, then I hoped that you will still remember us! You hurt Yugi again and you'll pay!! And don't worry about him, Bakura and I will e_specially _take care of him…]

/Seto--? I—thanks, for being such a friend to me../

[No, I'm not doing this as your friend!! This is what families do…]

/Family? Seto--/

[You're still my cousin!!] Kaiba cried as Yugi gave him a strange look. /That was 3000 years ago!! And I hadn't count exactly!! In this time, it's not--/

[You're still a cousin that I acknowledged and that's final!! Hehehe… and Jyounouchi!! Say hi to your sister!!] Cried Seto, making a V sign as he walked out of the screens. Yugi laughed as he looked away towards the direction Seto went. /Ha… so you admit that--/

The screen spun again as Kaiba grinned at the camera. [Bye Bye!!] He cried aloud as the tape ended. Anzu and Jyounouchi were silent. As Anzu took the camcorder back on the desk, Jyounouchi gave her a puzzled look.

'What's going on between the two?', he said suddenly as Anzu shook her head. 'I don't know…', she said as she noticed some writings on the label of the tape…

[**If there have been a different option, if the choice is for either me or Atemu who goes through the door… who would you want to win the duel? Me… or him?]**

Anzu gasped as she felt tears welling in her eyes. _I'm sorry, Yugi… I really am!! I never thought that I would be so self-centered…!_

--

Jyounouchi and Anzu walked downstairs towards the living room as Yugi's grandfather brought a small album towards them. 'So, you two had watched the tape, hadn't you? Good, at least that was settled…', said the old man as the three of them sat on the couch. Jyounouchi looked at the album that Sugoroku held on his hand, curiously. 'Grandpa, what was that? Can we see--?', he said as the old man gave it to him.

'It was the pictures that was taken two days ago… Kaiba-kun and his little brother had come to help out with Yugi's things and they've had some fun before going off to the airport. I even got to watch them playing cards at his room. Strange rules… they didn't used the Duel Disk and the Life Points in the game. Instead, they used penalty punishments!! Hohoho… it's amusing to see them play—', said Sugoroku as Jyounouchi and Anzu looked into the pictures.

There was some pictures of the family, along with Kaiba, Mokuba and Ryou at the airport before their departure. And a lot of pictures taken from the house. And some, took the two in surprise as Yugi and Kaiba had posed in the picture with their faces scribbled all over; making them look very clownish!! Mokuba was in it too and the three of them were smiling happily.

'This picture… what happened? When it's taken? ', asked Jyounouchi in surprise as the old man chuckled. 'It was after the duel between the two… Every time that either of them had their monsters destroyed or them receiving any direct attack, the player that received the Battle Damage had to have his face painted; since they didn't used any life points!! Haha… Yugi was quite creative to think of such rules---', said the old man as Jyounouchi and Anzu looked at the pictures with longing.

'They looked so happy…', gasped Anzu as Sugoroku eyed them carefully. 'Yeah… and now it's my turn to ask. What happened between the four of you? The three of you didn't come to send them off!! Yugi didn't tell you that he's leaving that day?', said the old man as the two teens sat quietly.

'That---', said Anzu as Sugoroku leant closer to hear…

--

'So this is the place, is it?', said Yugi nervously as he entered the tomb along with everyone. They looked around as they saw that the walls had revealed several traces that it had been suffering some kind of damage before it had been restored. Yugi followed his father closely as Seto and Bakura looked around them with wonder. 'Guess if this damage had been caused by your other self…', said Seto as Ryou shrugged casually. 'Yup, it is… I don't bother letting him out now, but this part of his memories confirmed it…'

'And I wonder how many lives had sacrificed when they were creating the items? Since Diabound had been so powerful, using the wandering soul's hatred to grow into immense strength..', sighed Yugi as Malik walked beside them. 'And I wondered about those people. Were they also a clan of gravekeepers like us before they turned their service from the pharaoh?'

'It has passed now… we can't change what was already written…', said Rishido solemnly as they followed Yugi's father through the tunnel. They walked and talked between themselves quietly until they've arrived to the place where the pharaoh's sarcophagus lies. And in front of it, there was another that resembled the memory tablet that the youngsters had seen before…

'And here it is…', sighed Ishizu as everyone stood around the tablet. 'It's time to set the things right again…', said Yugi as he put in the Sennen Puzzle in its slot, followed by Seto and Ryou with the Rod and the Ring. The others also help out with inserting the other items.

'It is the start of the new beginning… ', said Ishizu as the tablet started to glow brightly…

[…]

(Extra scene)

'Oh, it's done!!', gasped Seto as they saw the tablet got swallowed into the abyss along with the items when a large hole opened from below it. 'Wonder if there's anything else in here--?', he gasped as he skipped elsewhere. 'Wonder if we'll get to find Atemu's tomb or of my other self too? It'll be fun!! Ryou, Malik… let's get out of here and try finding it!!', he said again as the two boys followed him along.

'No, Seto!! It's not nice!!!', cried Yugi as all of them eventually got out in the sunlight. Akira watched him run off as Seto and the other boys continued teasing his only son.

--

--

'Ah, Yugi!! I thought I found it… Atemu's---', cried Malik as he turned around to call him. 'Eh… Yugi?!', gasped Bakura as he saw Seto leaning over Yugi, who had fainted.

'Oii, wake up!! We were just joking!!!'

--

Long hours after that… at the Ishtars residence…

'Eh… Yugi?—', said Seto as both of them sat leisurely on the bench at the veranda. Yugi leered at him angrily as he sipped his chilled tea. 'What, Seto?! #annoyed# Don't tell me another mean joke---', he snarled as he remembered the previous prank on him.

'No… just a thought. And really, those two had been kneeling over there to beg for your forgiveness!! Don't be so angry… we've got the sun to get us all hot enough…'

'Hmph.… looking at Bakura and Malik I guess… I'll probably forgive them in about an hour later. Let them be 'fried' longer until they stop making any more pranks… and uh, where's Ishizu-san?', said Yugi, satisfied that he's had his revenge over the two pranksters.

'At the market place, I guess… After she had gone off with your dad to decide what to do to preserve the tomb… I saw her walking off with Rishido…'

'Oh? Were they seeing each other--? That's nice… and what was it you want to talk about?', said Yugi as Mokuba emerged from the house, bringing another jug of chilled tea. Seto whistled as he let Mokuba sit on his lap. 'Haa… something, you know, when the next time we get to be together… like back at Domino or somewhere… wonder if we can go fishing out together?'

Yugi gasped as he almost sprayed some water towards Seto's face. 'What--?! Is something just hit you on the head or something?! I never thought I'd be hearing that coming from you!!'

Mokuba turned around to him too as he was also surprised. Seto shrugged. 'Nothing… it just that, since Mokuba and I had been sent to the orphanage… we never got to do things like that again. Cannot go out playing with anyone, having to learn all those things that Gonzaburo tried to force me to learn. Maybe it's also because of that, I never got to have any real friends…'

Yugi and Mokuba grinned at him as Seto tried to hide his embarrassed face. 'Oh--!! So, I got the privilege of being your first _true _friend, am I?', chided Yugi as he pinched Seto's cheek. 'How cute--- Mokuba, you've got a very cute brother in front of you now!!!', he said again as both of them laughed.

Mokuba hugged his brother affectionately as Yugi smiled at him warmly. 'Of course… when that chance came, let's all of us go out fishing together…' , he said as Seto started to smile again. Yugi turned his glance towards his other friends.

'Okay, you two… Time's up!! Ryou… Malik, I forgive you… get out of the sun already…'

;p ;p ;p ;p ;p ;p ;p ;p ; p ;p ;p ;p ;p ;p ; p ;p ;p

* * *

az: Okay… I'm being silly… feel free to review… This is just something extra that I just put in. Don't mind if it turned out to be rather confusing… And thanks, I've got the good feeling again… Right now, I'm focusing on Seto and Yugi's feeling… and this fic would have some more chapters still… so, stay in touch!!

Seto: Yeah…. Coz I'm her boyfriend!!

Az: Shoosh!! You're with Shizuka!! Or I'll be owning YuGiOh next!! Ja mata…


	21. Chapter 21: The final Rays of light?

az: Hmm… I felt like Onizuka suddenly, why is it? Hmm…. Fixed the formating… why on earth that the Quick edit thing ruin my formating with the asterisks…

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Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... there'll be a new dark lord and it's not Zork, Voldermort... or Sauron!! It's me..!! Huahahahahha.... Now I have the ONE ring!! (Nah... I was just a ringbearer... hihi...) Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi. The song…? You know to whom they belonged… the translations on Warriors, partly borrowed from J-Animes.

* * *

Chapter 21: The Final Rays of Light?

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani YamiAzzie

--

Some time ago, for the sake of living,

we left behind our happiness…

We deceived ourselves, clinging as we danced...

to this mere illusion…!

-

With closed eyes, at the edge of the horizon

I will look for your smiling face…

-

Within the fragile traces of memories..

We'll embrace our dreams and continue on...

Some day, that thought sealed deep in my heart…

That feeling… I will hold it again, now…

-

Warriors Yuichi Ikusawa

--

Two years later...

'Hey, Seii... did you hear? There's another exhibition at the museum... and it's about the Duel Monsters origins!!', cried a boy named Toshio as the two boys skipped along the pavements. The other boy named Seiichiro squealed in delight. 'Cool!! I never got to watch the last one that had the Egyptian slabs!!'

Toshio waved his hands at the boy. 'Sheesh... that's because we're still small kids right then!! But, man... this time they've include other monsters from other cultures... I heard from a sister that the origin of toon monsters cards were from the founder's favorite cartoon!!', cried the kid as the other jumped excitedly. 'The Duel Monsters game is so exciting!! But... I never seen those brothers that became the champion duelist during the Battle City tournament.. I heard they were from Domino. I wanna meet them!!'

Anzu who had just walked by the park and overheard the kids, stopped by to chat. 'Hey, boys... Ne-chan happened to hear you two talking. It so happened that ne-chan knew those people...', she said as the two boys squealed. 'That was so cool!! Sis, can we meet them, can't we?', cried Toshio as Anzu smiled apologetically. 'I supposed there is still one of them present in Domino city but I don't think it's okay to meet him. Jyounouchi is my friend, but ne-chan had to admit that he just won the competitions because of his crazy luck. You guys can't learn anything from him...'

Seiichiro was excited, either way. 'We don't mind!! But what about Mutou Yugi-nii-san and Seto Kaiba-nii-san? Can't we meet them?', said the boy as Anzu shook her head. 'You can't... Yugi and Kaiba-kun had left Domino two years ago. Ne-chan had lost contact with them for so long—'

'Iie... Seto-nii-chan was here. I saw him yesterday at the airport. That time, we were waiting for our aunty from Hong Kong... and we saw them. Him and his brother... I knew his face from the old pictures...', said Toshio as Seiichiro grinned at her. 'We're cousins... and it happened that we both like to play Duel Monsters... and we're quite a fan!!'

Anzu looked at them in amazement as she managed this new piece of news. 'They... they're here? That's... great. Unh... how about a short visit to Jyounouchi's favorite hangout? Usually at this time, he'll be present...'

'Hooray!!', cried the two kids happily as they followed Anzu along...

--

'Oii, idiot... what did you mean that you booked the place this evening? It was far and you want me to come!!?... A-ah, I know about that but does that baka knew about this? No?! And it's up to me to call who's stupid!! And what... A surprise? Oh well... you do that yourself!! I don't want to have anything to do about inviting the lot... After all this time, you'd think it would be easy? No-uh... okay, I'll come... after all this useless... Ah, nothing!! Aa.. see you later..', said Seto as he turned off his cellphone.

'Of all the idiocy... I thought I left it all years ago...', muttered Kaiba as a figure walked towards him. '...Kaiba-kun?! It's really you?—', said the visitor as Kaiba looked up at her. 'Omae—'

Anzu sighed in relief. 'Goodness... I thought the kids had been mistaken. It's been a while...', she said as she held out her hand. Seto shook it briefly as he let go. 'Well... I had to return here some time or another. My main office was here... can't let it go unsupervised even while I'm doing the course... Mokuba's fine too.'

'Course—?', she queried as Seto shrugged it off. 'Some short degrees on Business and Management... Some people doesn't want to admit my credibility, eventhough I've been so successful... and Yugi had been studying at the University of Cairo, you wanna know?', he said as he noticed Anzu's silent expression.

Anzu was elated to hear the news after long not knowing anything. 'Cairo? How's he doing... what did he do over there? Did you two still—'

Seto was doing his best to sound unbothered. 'He's studying Archeology as his major over there. Now about to start his fourth term... Often helped his father on some digs when he's on holiday. Bakura too... seemed they've been in a franchise with the Ishtars, studied the thing and helped around with them. They've grown to be respectable over there...', he said as he noticed Anzu's frustrations. 'But no... since I've finished the matter, we've never seen each other... Unless you count all the calls we've made to each other. I pressured him to do that... not wanting Pegasus to get him. We've made some new DM boosters series, by his help. And this exhibition too... it may sound to you that it's strange, but this was a joined project between me, him, the KaibaCorp, Industrial Illusions and the Ishtars...' _And no!! None of your business..._

'Oh...', she gasped as Seto waved her away. 'I'll be getting off now. Business... find Mokuba if you want. See you later in the evening. I expect that they'd call you...', he said leaving. Anzu was surprised but before she could ask, Kaiba was long gone...

--

Anzu sighed to herself as she sauntered again into the gaming alley where she left the kids to meet Jyounouchi and Honda. 'Yugi... how is he right now...?', she whispered softly as she sat slumped on a chair. Jyounouchi waved Toshio and his cousin off as he and Honda gathered around Anzu.

'Hey Anzu... what's up? You looked down since you left...', said Jyounouchi to her as Honda grabbed several seats for themselves. Anzu sighed again. 'I've met Kaiba... they'd just returned from USA yesterday. And he told me about Yugi...'

Jyounouchi's face changed suddenly at the mentioning of the name. 'Yugi...? What about him? Is he alright..?', he gasped as Honda made a face. Anzu nodded. 'Kaiba-kun said... that he and Bakura-kun had started studying at the University of Cairo. But, he didn't tell me more... Though, he did tell me that this exhibition that held at the museum was of their collaborative project. And I just wondered... I've heard that Malik and Ishizu-san had arrived, so maybe Yugi...'

'Forget it Anzu-chan. That guy probably didn't dare to come back after all he did...', snapped Honda as Jyounouchi leered at him. 'Shut up, Honda… You didn't know anything...!! Anzu, let's go to the museum! We might catch them there...', he said as he dragged his two friends out towards the exit as he bumped into somebody.

'Ouch!!', the two exclaimed as Jyounouchi rubbed his chin painfully. Anzu and Honda gasped in surprise as the girl gasped aloud. 'O-nii-chan!! Sorry... I was in hurry to find you and I thought I'd find you here...', cried Shizuka as her brother blinked. 'Shizuka..? What... How did you get here? And why..?', gasped Jyounouchi as Shizuka pulled out a card.

'I've received this card some time ago. It also stated to invite brother along too. I guess... the sender knew about your situation with father...', said Shizuka as Jyounouchi frowned at the invitation card. Yes, it was an invitation card to a dinner and it was indicated that the date is today. But what amazed him was that, the sender's name was none other than Malik Ishtar!!

'Malik?!', gasped the three as Jyounouchi gave the card back to Shizuka. 'I'd probably should come. Anzu, Honda... you guys come too. I think there will be something that the guy wanted to meet us for. But I was surprised on how did...'

Anzu grabbed Shizuka's hand as the four of them walked out on the streets. 'Well, since it's still early.... let's go to the museum. We'd probably find our old friends there...'

Jyounouchi nodded. 'I hoped...'

--

'Hmm... it's perfect!!', gasped Ryou as he switched off his phone. 'Nicely done... and the museum was well organized...', he said again as he surveyed the area around him where visitors had been admiring the various artifacts and stone slabs that depicted the origins of the monsters in the DM game. 'Well... a lot of effort had been done by everyone. And of course by his determination to make sure that everything was fine...', spoke the tall man beside him as the two kept watch.

Seto Kaiba laughed heartily as he approached the two. 'Haha... right. And I questioned his _determination _now when he's not here. Where's Yugi and those two? I thought Malik and Ishizu had come with you—', jeered Kaiba as Rishido frowned at him.

'Yugi had gone out with his friend while Malik-sama and Ishizu had gone making the late evening's preparations. And I knew that Yugi-san had wanted some time to settle down... Malik-sama had noticed that he's been unwell lately...', said Rishido as Seto glanced quizzically towards Ryou. 'He's still like that?! Man, I should be speaking to him... there's nothing to be worried about. He should have thrown the superstitions down the drain since then!!... I've met the Anzu-girl just now...she's fine, nothing like what he feared...'

'Well, you know him... always taken things very seriously...', said Ryou as Seto turned around to find Mokuba. But what he had not expected, is to bump into another person…

'Aaah!! Sumimasen...!', gasped Shizuka as both of them pulled away from their unintentional embrace. Seto's face turned scarlet as he realized whom he had, err... _hugged_.

Jyounouchi's eyes lighten up as he saw his old friends. 'Whoa!! Really... I thought I will never so lucky again to meet you guys!! Kaiba... Bakura!! So good to see you two again...', he gasped as he shook both of Seto and Bakura's hand. Seto was still dumbfounded. Anzu and Honda also exchanged their greetings as Jyounouchi noticed someone else among the crowds.

Jyounouchi glanced towards Rishido. 'Oh, Rishido-san!! I didn't notice you there. Where's Malik and the others?' 'Out on their own business, _bunkutsu_... while that _guy_ was out. No reason for you to worry...' Spontaniously, Seto murmured as Jyounouchi glared at him at calling him _trash_ again.

'Yugi—?', sighed Jyounouchi again as Shizuka grabbed Seto's hand. 'Kaiba-san... do you know where Yugi-san was now? Brother was still devastated by his leave... he wanted so much to meet him!!', she said as Seto swallowed hard. Mokuba found the moment to pop out of nowhere...

'Mokuba!! Boy, how you've grown!!', gasped Anzu as she hugged the boy. 'I've missed you all so much...', she sighed as Seto nervously tried to squirm free from the crowd. 'Well, I've gotta go get some fresh air... you guys go keep up with your news. I... I'll be back later...', he said as Mokuba looked at him strangely.

'Nii-sama.. what?! And why did you look so red?', asked Mokuba as Jyounouchi tried to grab the brunette. 'And Kaiba!! You didn't say anything on Yugi!! Where—', cried Jyounouchi as Seto had already fled the place. Mokuba sighed as he finally noticed Shizuka's presence. 'Oooh....', he sighed mischievously as he urged everyone to explore all of the exhibit. 'Ne… minna!! Let us show you around while waiting for my brother to come back…'

Jyounouchi and the others followed his directions obediently as Mokuba and Ryou promised to fill them up with everything...

--

'Idiot!! And why did I have to get stuck with this...', mumbled Kaiba impassively as he trudged along the pavements. He continued walking as he went into the park, where some kid are playing the Duel Monsters game using the Duel Disk that he had manufactured few years ago. He sighed as he sat down on a bench. 'It's been four years... that long, huh? What's with all the madness and weird happenings and things... life had never been _normal_ since then...', he mused silently.

'Come on, darling!! There's still a lot of things to do!!'

'Then, go slower!! We had a lot of time to be here... you don't have to pull me around like this!! ... Slow down, I said— Aah!!'

Seto was taken by surprise as a girl flew directly over him. He tried to swallow his amused glee as he recognized the girl, who had once tried to offer him help to be his programmer. Seto grinned at the thought of disaster that had struck home.

'Ooi, Becky-!! What are you doing, flying off towards me like that? Do you want to eat grass so much?', he chuckled as he pulled the girl back up. He spotted also, of someone's glasses lying not far from him. He picked it up immediately as Rebecca ran back towards her other, fallen companion. Kaiba followed en suit as he stiffled a laugh to find his friend lying on the ground so clumsily...

'Darling!! I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to, that was so unlady-like—'

'It's alright... I'm not hurt. So where's my glasses—?', muttered Yugi as Seto crouched beside him. 'Here it is—', he said as he slipped the glasses on for him. Yugi blinked as his blurred eyesight came back to him. 'Seto—!! When did— aah, don't mind it. What are you doing here?', said Yugi as Kaiba ruffled his hair in glee. Rebecca just kept herself silent as the two lads settled themselves on the grass.

'Trying to get away from your old friends who wanted desperately to find you. Not wanting to mention my embarassment when I bumped into that mutt's sister—!! The horror…', blurted Seto as Yugi's face turned shadowed. 'They... they've arrived there already?!', sighed Yugi as Seto nodded. 'They missed you badly... especially the mutt and the girl. There's nothing like you feared before... This time it's different, so stop being such an idiot!! Let's go... the others are waiting, and Ryou had already arranged for the reunion banquet...'

Yugi smirked at the thought. 'Then, I should believe you... but—'

'No buts!!', snapped Seto as Yugi moaned. 'I'm scared that they would be mad with me. And anyway, I'm tired. Rebecca ha been persistent for me to take her out for a date— (Becky: Darling!!) And my left leg still hurt from the last fall...', moaned Yugi as he rested his head on Seto's shoulder. 'Well, it's not— Man, Yugi... ooi!!?', cried Kaiba as he heard a soft snoring. He made a silly face. 'Asleep already?! (Or are you tricking me?) Becky, you really shouldn't have gone so extreme—'

Rebecca glanced at him angrily. 'I did not!! And darling hadn't complained before—'

'Well, you go back to the museum and help Malik, Ryou and Ishizu with anything they've been planning... We'll come by later, before any of you go to that restaurant Ryou told me about. Tell them that...', said Kaiba as Rebecca made a face.

'Heh, all right!! But if you did anything to darling, I—', cried Becky as she headed towards the museum. Seto sighed as he glanced again towards Yugi. 'Just my bad luck to be stuck with you— you'd never let me escape by myself, huh?', he said as Yugi opened his eyes and winked at him. (Seto: Damn!! You did trick me!!)

'Well, since you liked so much to be with me... I'd liked to take some advantage—', he said slowly as he sat up again. Seto looked at him. 'Oii, I thought you were tired—'

'Well, I was— would you mind if I doze off on the grass—?', mumbled Yugi as he lied down. (Seto: Huh!! Be my guest!!) Seto did the same. '…haah, today was such a field day for me too... it's not just you who are tired. And I thought that when I got back here, I could avoid meeting those guys…'

'My thought was the same. I had just wanted to visit my mum and grandpa… hmm… So then, what about you stumbling into Shizuka-san at the museum?', said Yugi as he received a kick on his legs.

'Shut up—! That's none of your business!!'

'Then again... we've never get the chance to tell her about that two years ago, huh?'

'I said shut up!!'

'Hahahaha...'

'Shut UP!!'

'You know… she'd probably liked you too…'

'Aah… you stupid!!'

--

'Bakura-san!! Darling and Seto will be coming here later...', said Meena as the lad nodded. Jyounouchi and the gang overheard it and turned around to find Rebecca, a little taller that the last time they've met. Anzu was surprised to see her. 'Rebecca, what— You've been with Yugi all this time?', she gasped but the young lady was not in a good mood. 'Yes, and why should you care? Darling was better off without you...'

But before Anzu could say anything more, Malik had cut them to the chase. 'Well we will wait for them, then. Don't fret about them. You'll be meeting you old friend sooner than you think..'

Jyounouchi sighed as he waited for the hour to come...

TBC

* * *

az: And thanks to everyone who reviews… 


	22. Chapter 22: The Banquet

az: Well, I guess the two OCs will be gone. And the story would be a little diferent..

Atemu: Well, at least we cut the amout of characters that's needed..

az: Yeah, and you know something... long time ago, when I was trying to write the battle between Yugi and Diabound... I've been planning on fusing Ra, Osiris and Obelisk to create a new God card... that is... Horus (But I never used this idea). Yeah... don't get me wrong, I already knew that Horus took an eagle form and in Mummy... the medjai's dead hawk is named Horus. The weird thing is... I checked on J-Animes a few months later when the news of the book finally completed... it was known that Atemu fused the three using his name tablet to summon Guardian of light Horakhti!! And it took the form of a golden eagle!! Like what I would imagine it will look like as Horus!! Was that an amazing coincidence?!! Thinking about this... I wondered why I abandoned that idea long ago...

A/N: I made the pairing turned into YugiXRebecca instead... So, anyone doesn't like it, go away or I send you o the Jiboku or into the Yami no GAME!!!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'll be having Seto as my personal nickname. Or did I already got that nick? Hahahaa.. Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi ;p

* * *

Chapter 22: The Banquet

Written by Azzie/Az .. Alienna Azuani .. YamiAzzie

'Where are they?!!', gasped Jyounouchi as he paced to and fro on the pavements in front of the museum. Anzu stared at him with mixed amusement. 'Jyounouchi-kun!! I knew it when I said that you should follow Shizuka-chan and the others to the restaurant!! There's nothing good you could do here, waiting for Kaiba-kun and Yugi-kun--'

Ryou looked at them with amusement painted all over his face. _To think that they had once hurt Yugi deeply... looks like that little payback of the last two years was working to well, huh?,_ thought Ryou as the two kept bickering. 'But Anzu!! I wanted to explain to him. And he has to know about Honda. That bloke hadn't been understanding anything I've told him since--'

'You know... considering your average height, people had a lot of reasons to consider you as a kid_--'_

Jyounouchi and Anzu froze in their steps as they recognized the voice...

'Seto...!! How many times I should tell you? Never call me a midget!! You know, I swear I'll keep bullying you when I finally finished my degree... I mean, in some of the south eastern region in Asia the average height of the teenagers are almost the same as me. But no--!! They were not called as midgets over there, do they? I hate it when you compare me with that simile...'

A smile crept over Jyounouchi and Anzu's face as they recognized the other voice. It's Yugi!! Both of them turned towards the direction of the voices as they saw Kaiba and Yugi emerging; the latter was seen being carried on the back by the other.

'But you know, it sure is fun to tease you--', said Kaiba as Yugi made a face at him. 'Seto!! You _ remember_ what I last did to Ryou and Malik with tricking me with that so-called finding of Atemu's tomb!! You-- You're lucky that I hadn't punished you as well--', growled Yugi angrily as Kaiba chuckled.

'Well, I know you loved me--', said Kaiba jokingly as Jyounouchi dashed towards them.

'YUGI!!?, cried Jyounouchi as he stopped in front of them. The two looked at them in horror as Yugi clutched Seto's shoulder tightly. 'J-- Jyounouchi?!', gasped Yugi as Kaiba gently put him down. He grabbed Kaiba's hand involuntarily as he almost tripped over his weak leg. Jyounouchi gasped as he saw Yugi's condition. 'Yugi--?! Your leg... what happened?', he gasped as Anzu gave him a worried glance.

_Come to think about it, we've been worried too much about their reactions, eh?_

Yugi started to laugh as his old friends looked at him with confusion. 'Don't mind me. I never thought that the first sentence coming out of your mouths is that you guy are worried about my left leg. So... you guys not mad at me anymore?', said Yugi as he fingered the small locket that he wore on his neck. Jyounouchi and Anzu shook their heads. 'No... how could we? All of us had gone through a lot in the past. And as I was saying, what happened to your leg--'

'Yes, Yugi--', said Anzu as Yugi grinned. 'Oh, Ra... what should I tell? It's quite silly actually...', said Yugi as Ryou smiled. The albino tapped on her shoulders to explain. 'Half a year ago, Yugi and me had offered to help Uncle Akira on one of his excavation site during our holiday. And... Yugi, sort of fallen over one of the ancient stairs and broke his leg. All because of his precious little trinket--', said Ryou as Anzu glanced at Yugi in surprise.

Seto grinned as he glanced at Yugi's face. 'Oh, I know this story... Come to think about it, we could always make another one..', he said as Yugi scowled at him. He looked back towards his old friends. 'I don't want to. This one has a lot of memories for me. And it's not like I could still remember the exact look of the puzzle to make another--', said Yugi as Jyounouchi and Anzu noticed that the locket that Yugi wore on his neck had looked like a miniature Sennen Puzzle. Yugi gestured towards Ryou's direction. '--See, Ryou-kun got one with the Sennen Ring design...', he said as Ryou showed his own locket.

'Oh...', gasped the two in understanding as Ryou walked away to call on his driver. 'So, will everything go back to normal between us, Yugi?', said Anzu as Yugi ignored the question. 'Ah, had Rebecca gone off with the others already? They are at the restaurant, aren't they?', said Yugi as Anzu shakily said yes. Yugi sighed.

'Then, shouldn't we go now?', said Yugi, smiling as he didn't notice the look of despair that Anzu wore. 'You know, Rebecca could be quite annoying when she's at it. She had been quite energetic ever since Professor Hopkins allowed her to stay with me...'

'And I'm _glad_ there were still someone who could annoy and made your life hectic when I'm gone! I was wondering if tou ever would miss me over there--', mumbled Kaiba as Yugi leered at him. 'And I'd _reminded_ you... aren't we already _late_? And my, how I can't _ wait_ to go to my own special reunion party. Also Seto, I won't let you skipped out of this!! Mokuba and I will bite off your ears if you dare run away--', snarled Yugi with intended sarcasm as Kaiba made some grunting noise.

Jyounouchi looked at them weirdly as Ryou dashed towards them. 'Come on! The car's here and the others were waiting--', he said as the four of them got into the car...

--

Seto sighed softly as he played with the pen on his fingers. Anzu's eyes lighten up when she saw that the pen had looked a lot like a miniature sennen rod. 'Uh--', she gasped as Seto's attention turned towards her; taking mind not to wake Yugi up as the other had fallen asleep again on his shoulder. Well, the traffic seemed to not want to let them off easily, is it?

'What--?', he said as Anzu struggled to form her words. 'Uh... what was that... you were holding?', she said as Kaiba gave a little smirk. 'My pen... hihihih...', he said, chuckling as he saw the shocked look that both Jyounouchi and Anzu wore. Yup, the sight of Seto grinning like a kid, _do_ freaked them out.'See... this bottom here can be opened to use the pen and--', he said as he twisted the head, '--you'll get a small knife when you twist it around. Nice when you encounter any unsuspecting accidents as forgetting to bring a pen or someone trying to hurt me...' He smiled as he received their blank looks back at him. _Yeah!! Satisfactory guaranteed..._

Ryou grinned as he continued to elaborate, 'The truth is... Yugi asked his father to make some smaller replica of the items for us because he doesn't want to forget about the existence of the sennen items and everything that had happened from their creations. For Yugi, all of the events regarding himself and his other self, the history of the creation of the sennen items up to the sacrifice of the young pharaoh was still a part of his past. He felt the obligation of not ever forgetting the fate of the numerous people involved in this part, be it during the Ancient Egyptian or the present time. A lot of people had been hurt because of the sennen items. But even then, he felt that it was his duty to remember them as himself.'

'Well, since only the sennen tauk, puzzle, ankh, rod and ring were considered to be made... I opted for this instead. I could try another application in this set, but I knew I would make Yugi pissed. He warned me if I wanted to do more, I should make him another replica for the Puzzle--!', said Seto as Yugi slapped him suddenly. Seto looked at him in surprise as he hadn't suspected him to be awake. Yugi scoffed at him as he pouted. 'Hmph!! The moment you saw me sleep, you took the chance to gossip about me... eh?! Be careful that I didn't spill the beans on you--', snarled Yugi as he turned at Jyounouchi. 'Ee, Jyou... did Shizuka-san came with you?! I had told Malik to invite her in case he had planned something like this--', he said as Jyounouchi nodded. '--oh, did you then--'

'Good...', he said as Seto leered at him. 'I thought Bakura didn't tell you about the this plan--', he said as he cast a suspicious glance at Ryou. Ryou shrugged at him innocently as he waved his hands up.

Yugi smirked. 'Malik told me about this two hours ago. When I was about to go out with Rebecca. Do you think I wouldn't know?!', said Yugi as the CEO rolled his eyes at him. 'Yeah... well consider me too concerned about you.', he said as Yugi smiled at him.

'Oooh... you ca---red!! I hoped not too much as Rebecca! I couldn't stand having the two of you looking out for me so much. It's not like I hadn't heard enough from my father...', he said as Seto grinned. _Yeah, pure sarcasm..._

'Silly--', the brunette said offhandedly.

And the car was quiet again as none of them spoke until at the end of the journey...

--

'Oh god--! How can I do this!!?', cried Yugi as he peered inside the restaurant to find it rather empty except for the presence of his friends. As Anzu marched into the hall along with Ryou, he saw a glimpse of Honda's annoyed face. Seto pinched his arm lightly as Yugi scowled at him. 'Wha--at?! Don't tell me that I have to get IN there!!? Who knows what kind of battlefield awaits me?!', exclaimed Yugi as Seto waves him off.

'Nonsense!! Except for that _particular monument_ of a friend you have got over there, everyone was okay!! And you've settled that two friends of yours--', Seto turned around as he noticed that Jyounouchi hadn't come in yet. As it was, Jyounouchi's arm crept around both of them as Yugi and Seto hissed in surprise!

'Hehehe... what were you two planning now? And who referred one of my friend as a _monument--?!_', growled Jyounouchi suddenly as shivers came to Yugi's body. And Seto was not going to admit that he was scared also. He was also nervous since Shizuka was in there!!

'Err... nothing!!', squeaked Seto as he grabbed hold of Yugi's hand for support. 'And don't you see that guy's _hair_?! It got some standard _angle_!! How in the world did you get a friend like that... all these years?!! And you want me to sit among you?' Yugi chuckled as some of the butterflies inside his stomach had kind of flew away. 'So, do you guys want to get in or not?!', snapped Jyounouchi as Seto was about to shake his head; thinking another better idea of fleeing right now. Even the sight of Mokuba sitting at the table beside Shizuka had not convinced him to get in. Yugi tightened his grip on Seto's hand as the latter glance at him.

'Please--', Yugi said as anxiety started to overcome him again. _I won't go in if you didn't..,_ thought Yugi as Seto nodded; seeming to understand his thoughts. With that unspoken agreement settled, both of them entered the hall along with Jyounouchi to meet up with their friends...

--

'Uh, here... Kaiba-san, have some beef filet. Mokuba-kun said that you liked it--'

Politely, he accepted the offer as Shizuka placed the food on Seto's rice bowl. Flushing a little, he thanked the girl as he glanced around him nervously. As expected, Yugi, who had sat beside him, along with Ryou, Malik and Ishizu had given him an amused grin. But probably not. He had this suspicion that all of them had set him up on sitting beside Shizuka. _And why did Mokuba told her about my favorite things?!! Had everyone got that mutual agreement on setting me up with her this desperately?!! Hey!! I'm still not ready!!_, thought Seto as Yugi gave him a reassuring glance.

_Okay, at least the mutt was not showing any signs of his disapprovement on Shizuka's kind treatment to me. But then again, the guy was not bright enough to sense these things. What'll he do if he knew that I liked his sister? No... let's not think about that. I've said a lot of bad things on him before and those short peace agreement between the two of us that time when **that** incident happened was not going to turn things around. Oh god!! This is driving me crazy!!_, thought Seto again as he chewed on his beef filet.

Well, for once Anzu hadn't opened up any friendship speeches. That was good. But then it was probably because of the fractured relationship between the four reminded herself to shut her mouth. And let's not go mentioning about Honda!! He had been glaring at Seto with distrust as Shizuka kept smiling at him. Well, unfortunately for our dear Seto, he didn't know that a year before this Shizuka had politely said to Honda that she had been seeing him as her brother's friend. No more than that. So, of course the guy was sour when he sees Shizuka treating Seto quite kindly...

So, back with the story...

'Um... so, was the food fine with everyone?', said Ryou nervously as he glanced at everyone. 'I mean... since everyone had different preference on their food and everything...' _Geez... this silence was disheartening!! Everything went quiet the moment Seto and Yugi walked in..._, thought Ryou helplessly.

'It's good... I never tasted anything better!!', said Jyounouchi finally, breaking the silence. 'Haii, it's good since here we are... eating together after so long...', said Anzu as Ryou thanked them for it. 'Well, it's good hearing that. We thought our effort would be wasted... we've been meaning to do this for months. Thank goodness that we could do this now. You know... the exhibition... and this reunion...', said Malik as Anzu stared at him. 'What do you mean--?', she said as Malik explained. 'The three of us were so busy with our classes... Seto with his business and courses, Mokuba with his college... I mean, it's hard to find the perfect time to convince the guys to come here at the same time. And of course... we've worried that the people we left here were still angry with us...'

Jyounouchi and Anzu quickly shook their heads as Jyounouchi glared at Honda's direction. 'No... we're not. Days after Kaiba and Yugi had left, Anzu and I had found something as Grandpa Sugoroku had explained and we've understood. _Unlike some..._', said Jyounouchi as he and Honda glared at each other again.

Suddenly, both Seto and Yugi looked up at him and gasped. 'You guys had seen the tape?!', they exclaimed together as Jyounouchi and Anzu nodded. 'What tape?!', said Bakura as Yugi and Seto sighed again. 'Nothing...', they said at the same time.

'It's pretty alarming about what we saw in it... but we understand. After seeing that tape and everything, we're not mad anymore _except somebody else who don't want to accept that he's being harsh!!_,' said Jyounouchi as he frowned at Honda. He turned back towards Yugi and Kaiba again as he continued to speak. 'And Seto, even after everything that has been going on between us all these years... it'll be nice if we can be friends again.', he said as Seto stared at him between gladness and disbelief. 'Me too...', said Anzu as she smiled at Yugi.

'Well, cut it off!! Enough with this friendship talks!! Kaiba, Yugi... don't you think that you guys can easily come back here and pretend that everything is all good again between us!!', snapped Honda as Yugi looked at him in horror. Well, that goes the same with everyone!! Rebecca, who had been keeping quiet all the time, had clutched on her knife and fork in anger as Jyounouchi sent a fierce glare at Honda. The Egyptians were surprised at this sudden outburst and Bakura was not so glad anymore. And let's not ask about Seto. No one was allowed to treat Yugi badly again, he had vowed about it long time ago.

'Is that so--?', said Yugi as he slowly rose from his chair and glanced sharply at him. 'I'm sorry that you had felt that way, Honda-san...', he said as he tried to walk away but stumbled hard on the floor behind him. 'Yugi--!!/Darling!!', exclaimed Seto and Rebecca at the same time as Yugi shakily got back on his feet.

'It's alright, I'm fine.. Just need to get some fresh air...', said Yugi as he tried hard to not go bursting into tears any time soon. 'I'll be fine, Rebecca... really, Seto.. I'm okay. Don't worry about me. I... I had to take my medicine again, my bad leg hurts again...', he said as he quickly left the hall in haste.

'Anzu...', Anzu glanced towards Becky as the girl addressed her. 'Darling, he's-- there's something you need to know. But, I think it's better that darling himself tell you. We've been talking about this for some time...'

'What-- Rebecca, what do you mean?', said Anzu. 'There's something that darling had been thinking ever since he left. And I thought that you'd better accompanied him. He'd be worried that I'll be troubled if I go instead...'

Anzu frowned at her. 'Rebeca, you didn't mind?', said Anzu as she shook her head. 'Whatever happens, darling will always be with me!!', cried Rebecca as she winked mischievously at her. With that, Anzu quickly stood before glaring at Honda and ran after Yugi's direction...

Back to Seto again, he was now standing and casting a _really _evil look at Honda. Jyounouchi was not excluded also as himself, Ryou and Malik glared at the lad. You almost thought that Yami Bakura and Yami Marik were back!! Seto's mouth twitched as he could not bear his anger any longer.

'You SO needed some _attitude adjustment_, Hiroto-yarou--!! You'll regret that you had ever became the blockhead that you were...', he said as Seto clenched his fist...

Meanwhile, the girls, Mokuba and Rishido went back to eating as they left the others alone to teach Honda a thing or two..

TBC

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az: Hmm... one last chapter and another one-shot sequel. And this will finish. Then we'll see each other on Darkness Arising!! Ja!! Review!! Thanks... And you know something? Today I went to my first Yugioh Tournament of my life. And I got Horus!! Wakaka... who told the cards that I liked Horus? And when I thought I won't be able to get in as a duelist... I got in!! Lost in the first round, but I felt so good. I've learnt something about the game... nothing beats duelling with another person other than your ignorant sister. It sure is fun!! And to think that I felt the same fear as Yugi and the other would have felt in the duel. Hehehehee... scary!! 


	23. Chapter 23: A New Horizon

az: Okay... I admit, writing fanfiction was a lot easier than really dueling with people. I can think wisely while dueling my sister, but I was unprepared to dueling others... If only there are other people who can duel with me... I felt a lot like Yugi...

Yugi: And a lot of thanks to you guys who kept supporting us all through this 22 chapters. Even though some only managed to keep in touch until to some chapters only... we appreciated the support. And we hoped that you guys liked the final chapter... Spread the love...

Seto: And I thank you guys too for keeping Azzie's motivation up all through the progress of this chapters... It meant a lot to her since she had almost lost her cards yesterday... Some wind practically blew the cards into the water! Thankfully, all her dragon cards and Blue Eyes are still intact.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh manga nor did I own the anime spare the DVDs and my DM deck that I so much treasure until the end of time. If I OWNED Yugioh... I'll be owning my own house. And that wasn't going to happen soon.. Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi ;p

* * *

Chapter 23: A New Horizon

Written by Azzie/Az Alienna Azuani YamiAzzie

'Yugi--?!', said Anzu as she approached the young lad who had been staring over the scenery from the top of the building. Well, the restaurant was under the hotel building, no surprise over that. But it intrigues her to find that Yugi felt at peace, being on the top of the building.

'Isn't it beautiful?', said Yugi as he turned his glance towards her. Yugi smiled. 'And to think that all of this trouble started when I was wondering about the real existence of me and Atemu...', he said as Anzu shook her head. 'It's not your fault... you wouldn't have known..'

Yugi chuckled as he wondered about everything. 'It's over now. Long time ago Atemu had faced his darkness during his battle with Dartz. And now I too had faced my own darkness that I have created in my own heart; successfully. It was time for a new Yugi living out there...', sighed Yugi as Anzu frowned at the words.

'Does that mean... it was also over between us? Is that what you wanted to say?', gasped Anzu as Yugi looked at her with pity. 'I guess... To tell you the truth, I've already forgotten what it felt like... liking you. The more I think about it, the more I regard it as a silly crush... nothing more than that. And I had already knew your feelings for Atemu. So Anzu... can't we just remain as friends like we've always do? I know that someday you'll find the one who will be your match. I'll pray for you...', said Yugi as he smiled gently. Anzu gasped as she grabbed Yugi's shoulder. 'It's not... It can't be true!! Yugi-- You can't.. you can't!!', cried Anzu as she hugged Yugi tightly. 'You must be lying...', she said as tears slowly fell to her cheeks.

'It's true... but that doesn't mean that it was the end of the world, isn't it?', said Yugi as he pulled her away from himself. 'So... I heard that you have been applying for that dancing course in New York. How did it go?', asked Yugi as Anzu shrugged, trying to stifle her sobs. 'Okay, I guess... it so happens that there was another branch of that school situated near Domino. I had just started the class..'

Yugi whistled with amusement as Anzu looked intently at him. 'Rebecca... were you two... together now?', said Anzu as Yugi scratched his head. 'Rebecca?!', muttered Yugi as he started blushing. '--err well, ever since that first meeting... she had been calling me her boyfriend, wasn't it? Hnnh, well I forgot when... but I had started liking her more than just friends since the grand prix. And Becky had liked me as I am, that's why--'

Anzu looked away towards the horizon as she watched the evening sun cast a reddish glow to the surroundings. Yugi smiled at her silent answer. 'Come on... Let's get down again. It's time to set the tables straight for Honda. I believe that the guy was still angry with me. _But I don't think it will just end there, is it? I wonder what Seto would do_...'

'You have grown matured, Yugi...', said the voice as Yugi turned around suddenly to find that his grandpa standing not far behind him.

Yugi gasped as he had not expected his grandpa to be here. 'Jii-chan!! When.. did you come here? Where's ma--?', he said as Sugoroku shrugged. 'She had left with your dad after sending me here. Yugi, are you sure that you were fine now?', said the old man as Yugi nodded at him.

The lad smiled as Anzu stared at Yugi with wonder. 'I'm okay, jii-chan, daijoubu... Frankly, if I wasn't, my other self would have told me off with every curse words in Egyptian or Japanese from the other side!! Jii-chan... you don't think that I hadn't the same strength as Atemu had? Anyway, I had realized that my life doesn't have to be always trapped in the shadows. Like Atemu did, I too should be always heading towards the light...'

Suddenly someone was clapping his hand for him and an applause was heard from his other side. Yugi turned away to find that everyone had come to the balcony. 'Good speech!!', cried Seto as he whistled along with Jyounouchi. Yugi blushed as the he tried to look seemingly angry at them. 'Oh yeah... you rocked--! _Stupid_...', snarled Yugi as venomously as possible. Rebecca darted out towards him as she embraced him.

'That's my darling!!', as she snickered at him. 'Darling okay now? A lot of things had happened when darling left...'

Yugi smiled as he noticed her tone. 'I'm okay, no worries!! So... what happened?', said Yugi, grinning as he glanced towards the others. At the same time, Honda revealed himself to him while looking a little beaten up. Yugi stared in surprise as realization hit him.

'I'm sorry... Yugi. I suppose I was being too harsh on you. I never thought about your side of the story...', said Honda as Yugi glanced back towards Rebecca. 'That bad, huh?! Other than Seto and Jyounouchi... who else pitched in?', he asked as the girl winked. 'Mokuba and Rishido-san was the only one beside the girls who did not. Well... I would have joined, but... He shouldn't have said things like that at darling!' Yugi's eyes widened as he glanced at his friends.

'You guys are bad!!', cried Yugi in amusement as he rolled his eyes at their direction. 'I never asked to be loved so intensely!!', he chuckled as Jyounouchi and the others laughed nervously. Still laughing, he called on his grandpa and the others to go back at the restaurant. 'Come on... we were supposed to _eat _here...', he said as he caught Seto. 'Because of this, you guys owed me something! Especially you, Kaiba Seto.. my cunning _cousin!_', said Yugi as the said lad stared at him blankly, followed by the fearful faces of Ryou and Malik.

'You ARE to accompany me all day tomorrow as a punishment!!', cried Yugi as he frowned at Seto, hands on his hips. Seto countered back with his icy glare. 'What did I do wrong?! I was thinking about your well being!! And that _bunkutsu _was also involved--', he cried as Jyounouchi shouted at him for calling him things again. Yugi glanced back at him as he tried to calm Jou-kun. 'You forgot?! I thought that you mean it when you said that you would like us to go fishing together...', pouted Yugi as suddenly Ryou and Malik squealed in delight at the suggestion.

Seto sighed as he realized the situation. 'I thought it was only supposed to be between us and Mokuba--', said Seto grumpily as Ryou and Malik started hopping around Yugi and hugging him for forgiving them so easily.

_Well, no good refusing_..., sighed Seto as he replied. 'Okay... we'll go tomorrow--', he said as Mokuba joined the excitement with Ryou and Malik. Jyounouchi took this chance to be polite. 'Well, can we join too...', he said as Yugi cut Seto off before he could speak. 'You can if you bring Shizuka along!!', said Yugi as Seto's face turned pale. Yugi grinned at him as he skipped towards the now-blushing Shizuka.

'Did you tell him already?', whispered Yugi to her as Shizuka shyly shook her head. Seeing this, Seto realized that Yugi had kept another secret from him.

'Uso... Yugi, say you didn't!! Say you didn't gave her _that_ picture message!!', cried Seto as Yugi giggled uncontrollably. Flushing really badly, Seto marched towards Yugi and immediately scooping the vertically-challenged lad off his feet to head towards the lift. But before he could do so, Shizuka cried out that she had really liked him and the lad just stumbled on the floor with Yugi on tow. Having only a minor bruise and the fact that Yugi had landed on him while sustaining no injuries, Seto glanced at Shizuka with utmost uncertainty.

'Shi-- Shizuka, you... you really mean it?!', he gasped in disbelief as Shizuka nodded feverishly. 'I.. had liked you... ever since we've met at the Battle Ship. But I don't know how to tell!! O-nii-san and you are not very friendly to each other then and ...', confessed Shizuka as Jyounouchi looked at his sister with amusement. He never realized that Shizuka had taken to liking Seto Kaiba of all people, and to have that person to _actually_ feeling the same towards her!! Now he understood all that small hints that Yugi said whenever he mentioned Shizuka in front of Seto...

Meanwhile, Seto had frozen on the spot; still holding Yugi on his lap. When he finally come to, all the blood on his face flushed up to his cheeks as he held Yugi tightly. 'Yugi... you idiot!! Look at what you have done--!', he cried as he glomped the smaller lad. Yugi cried aloud as he couldn't free himself from the ticklish sensation that Seto gave him. 'Rebecca!! Anyone... help!!', cried Yugi underneath his laughter as Becky, Malik and Ryou joined in to save Yugi. Mokuba also helped out as he stalled his brother while Ryou started to carry Yugi on his back.

'See you at the next floor!!', teased Yugi and Bakura as they ran off with Rebecca towards the stairs. As the three left, Rebecca, Yugi and Bakura cheered loudly as Malik and Mokuba joined them. At their leave, Seto chased after them as he left the remaining people on the top of the building to laugh at their antiques, having a mind to drag Shizuka along.

'It seemed that the _pharaoh_ had regained back his usual cheeriness... and it was so infectious to the people around him..', said Ishizu with amusement as she and Rishido started to head towards the stairs. 'Yeah... It's good to see him smiling again...', sighed Sugoroku with a satisfied smile as he followed the two Egyptians down the stairs.

And finally, only the threesome friends is all that had remained on top of the building. Anzu sighed as she watched the setting sun. 'It was a pleasant reunion, isn't it guys?'

Honda shrugged as he accepted everything calmly. Even at the fact that Shizuka had confessed her feelings to Kaiba so openly in front of him. 'Yeah, it was a perfect ending...', he said as Jyounouchi begged to differ. 'No, it was a perfect beginning... We got back Yugi and the others, and our friendship is reforged again!!', he said as the Anzu and Honda agreed with him. And eventually, they too walked down the stairs to join the others...

--

_Kakusenai hodo mabayui hikari_

_Seijyaku yaburi kono youni yomi ageru_

_Hageshiku kuragu kawaita daichi _

_Inochi o kakete hihana busukeau _

_Mou ichido dake de__ Ii _

_Kiseki okite yo _

_Kakoninakushita kioku no pechi o torimodosu _

_Chikara wo.. _

_Yami wo tsumonuku shinjiru kokoro _

_Tamashii nemuru basho sagashite _

_Mahataki dekinai surudoi kankou o moyasu _

_Hikari to kake no _

_Futatsu no kokoro _

_CRYSTAL ni utsuru mirai e _

_Ima ugokidasu... _

_Akaku minagiru Eyes.._

_Kasanari au Eyes..._

_- Overlap -- Kimeru - _

THE END

* * *

az: Hehehehe... finally finished. So please... review me for one last time. And I wished for a lot!! Luv you all!! And translations for Overlap can be found on J-Animes Yugioh Page... hohoho.... hentai Yugi... nice Seto... I never thought it will get a very good response...!! 


End file.
